Ahsan Raza hopes to join ICC’s Elite Panel of Umpires

Pakistan cricket umpire Ahsan Raza is eying a spot at International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Elite Panel of Umpires, The News reported today.

“I have been doing umpiring in ODIs and T20Is since 2010 and now I’m looking forward to becoming a part of ICC’s Elite Panel of Umpires. I’m doing extra hard work to achieve this target,” he said.

The 46-year-old became the first umpire in the world to stand in 50 Twenty20 Internationals in November this year during Pakistan’s home T20 series against Zimbabwe.

“Establishing a world record in any format of international cricket is definitely a great honour,” he said “Frankly I had never imagined going this far in the umpiring field.”

Raza said that he has been following cricket since his childhood and his close affiliation with prominent umpire Aleem Dar led him to choose a career in this field.

The Lahore born umpire has also played club cricket in P&T Gymkhana and first-class cricket for LCCA, Faisalabad, Sargodha and HBL.

He added that representing Pakistan in any capacity is absolutely a huge distinction. “I felt honored and privileged when I became part of PCB’s Panel of Umpires,” Raza said.

The Umpire has participated in 14 ICC World Cup events, including T20 World Cup qualifiers 2019-20 in the UAE. He has also supervised 57 domestic cricket finals, including 15 first-class and 19 T20s finals as field umpire.

Raza is the third Pakistani umpire after Aleem Dar and Mehboob Shah who has supervised ICC World Cup finals as field umpire. “Standing in the Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 final at Melbourne in front of 92,000 spectators was a memorable occasion,” he added.

Giving advice to young and emerging umpires, Raza said that young umpires must work hard if they want to attain a respectable place in the umpiring field. 

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