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'Indians were disappointed with my Inzamam decision. They said I favoured Pakistan': Ex-PAK umpire recalls 2004 ODI
The former Pakistan umpire recalled India's tour of Pakistan in 2004, where a Sourav Ganguly-led side beat the hosts 3-2 in the ODI series.
India and Pakistan may not play each other in bilateral cricket series at the moment, but both sides have enjoyed many multiple encounters over the years. The last time both teams played in a bilateral series was in 2012 when Pakistan toured India for two T20Is and as many ODIs. Since then, an increase in political tensions between both countries has resulted in the teams meeting only in continental (Asia Cup) and global (ICC) tournaments.
India's tour of Pakistan in 2004 is widely remembered by the cricket fans worldwide for the quality of the game from both the sides. The Sourav Ganguly-led Indian team took on Pakistan in five ODIs and three Tests; India won both series, securing a 3-2 win in ODIs and taking home the Test series 2-1.
Former Pakistan umpire Asad Rauf, who had taken charge of all the five ODIs during the tour, has now recalled a memory from the game in Lahore. Rauf revealed how the Indian team was “disappointed” with one of his decisions in favor of Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq, but turned to appreciate him as soon as the replays showed that he was actually correct.
“It was India's tour of Pakistan in 2004. It was a big series. I was the umpire in all the five ODIs of that series. Inzamam played a sweep shot during one of the the ODI against India in Lahore. The ball first hit his hands, then his shoulder, and then he was caught at slip. I had seen that the ball had hit the hands first, and so I gave it not out,” Rauf recalled during a chat on Sports Paktv.
“The Indians were quite disappointed with that. They were saying I was favoring them because I'm a Pakistan umpire. But when the drinks break happened, the man who brought drinks told me that everyone is now praising your decision because the replays had showed that I was indeed right,” Rauf further said.
Inzamam had scored a century (123) in that game, but India chased down a 294-run target with five overs to spare.
