Aleem Dar wins ICC Umpire-of-the-Year Award, 2009

Pakistan’s umpire Aleem Dar, who is 41, was named ICC Umpire of the Year at the LG ICC Awards in Johannesburg on Saturday, October 3, 2009.

Dar, from Pakistan, was voted to this award by the 10 Full Member captains as well as the eight-man Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees, based on his decision statistics over the last 12 months.
Dar, who made his international debut as an umpire in 2000, joined the Elite Panel in 2004. He beat strong competition from his colleagues Asad Rauf; another Pakistani Umpire, Tony Hill and consecutive five-time ICC Umpire of the Year Simon Taufel, from Australia. In the voting period of these awards, Dar stood in seven Tests and eight ODIs, as well as the World Twenty20 in England.

Receiving the award, he said, “I am very pleased to get this award. Thanks to the PCB and ICC, as well as my friends and family and of course my wife, who I have to leave for long periods of time.”

“Normally I am quite calm and so the pressure is not big for me. It is important to stay cool and if you make a mistake, you cannot let it get to you. You have to concentrate all the time,” he explained.

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