Aleem Dar breaks the record for officiating in the most number of on-field matches

What’s the story?

Pakistani umpire Aleem Dar has now broken the record for having officiated in the most number of on-field matches across all three formats of the game. The 48-year-old stood in his 332nd International game on Monday during the South Africa vs Sri Lanka Test in Cape Town, thereby going past former umpire Rudi Koertzen, who stood in 331 international games during his career.

When asked about achieving the mark, Dar said that he never aimed to get to the mark and revealed he enjoyed watching the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Inzamam-Ul-Haq and several other batsmen, while officiating.

“Records are meant to be broken. To officiate in the most number of matches in the history of the game was never the aim. My main thing was to be disciplined in my umpiring and match management. 332 is just a number. Still, it is a great honour and a big milestone. I would like to thank the Pakistan Cricket Board, the International Cricket Council, my colleagues, my friends and especially my family. I stay away from them for almost seven months in a year. It’s a big challenge, but at the same time it is a great contribution from them (that they live around my schedule).

“Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, Ricky Ponting, Brian Lara and Inzamam-ul-Haq. Among bowlers, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Muttiah Muralitharan, Shane Warne and Anil Kumble are the best,” he added.

Umpires who have officiated in most numbers of matches:

No.	Name	Matches officiated On field
1.	Aleem Dar	332
2.	Rudi Koertzen	331
3.	Steve Bucknor	309
4.	Billy Bowden	308
5.	Simon Taufel	282

In case you didn't know....

Aleem Dar made his umpiring debut in the year 2000 and in a career spanning more than 15 years, has officiated in a total of 405 matches, including 332 games as an on-field umpire and 73 matches as a TV umpire.

Dar has also won the ICC Umpire Of the Year award on three occasions in 2009, 2010 and 2011 and has stood in the 2011 World Cup Final.

The heart of the matter

Umpiring is not an easy task and it requires an official to have lots of patience and high concentration levels. Dar has been on the circuit for the last 16 years and has stood in several high profile games, including World Cup Finals.

Consistency is an aspect that is often attributed to players, but umpires too are rated based on this aspect and his three ICC Umpire Of the Year awards are a testament to his accuracy and consistency when it comes to giving the right decisions.

What’s Next?

After having achieved this mark, Dar’s next target would be to break Steve Bucknor’s record for the umpire who has officiated in the most number of Test matches. He is not too far away from breaking that record as well, having stood in 127 Tests as compared to 128 of Bucknor.

Sportskeeda’s take

Umpiring is never an easy task and one needs to remain fit for a long duration in order to stand and concentrate for extended periods of time in the middle. To have remained on the circuit for 16 years and consistently done well is a testament to Dar’s passion for the job and hopefully, he surpasses Bucknor’s mark soon enough and also breaks a few other records in the upcoming years.