Umpire Shakoor Rana dead

Pakistan Test umpire Shakoor Rana died late on Monday following cardiac arrest, his family said. He was 63.

He was buried on Tuesday in the Punjab provincial capital Lahore after a service which was attended by a large gathering of family, friends and members of the Pakistan cricketing world, the official APP news agency said.

Shakoor, who stood in 15 Tests and 19 one-day internationals, shot to prominence following a toe-to-toe, finger-wagging confrontation with England captain Mike Gatting during a Test match in Faisalabad in 1987.

Shakoor refused to start the third day's play until Gatting submitted an unconditional apology.

Gatting complied but Rana's stubbornness helped Pakistan escape defeat before holding the tourists to a draw at Karachi to win the three-Test rubber 1-0.

Before England arrived in Pakistan last year for their first tour since 1987, Shakoor expressed his regret that the Gatting dispute had damaged the image of the game and soured cricketing relations between the two countries.

Shakoor played first-class cricket before becoming an umpire. His two brothers Shafqat and Azmat played at Test level for Pakistan while his son Moammar is a leading film actor.

Mail Cricket Editor