Indian umpire Sundaram Ravi, a member of the Elite Panel of International Cricket Council (ICC) umpires, has been named as a replacement for Aleem Dar after the Pakistani official was withdrawn by the governing body from the India-South Africa series due to security concerns.
Ravi, who was officiating in the Pakistan-England Test series in UAE, will now fly to India while and officiate in the fourth ODI between India and South Africa in Chennai on Thursday.
“Due to the close proximity of fixtures Sundaram Ravi, a member of the Elite Panel of ICC Umpires, had previously been selected for the Pakistan versus England series, but will now stand in the fourth ODI between India and South Africa in Chennai on Thursday. Because of exceptional circumstances, both the BCCI and CSA have agreed that two Indian umpires will stand in this game,” the ICC said in a statement.
Bruce Oxenford and Paul Reiffel will now be the on-field umpires for the Pakistan-England for the second Test which starts in Dubai on Thursday, while Chris Gaffaney has been named as the TV umpire. Oxenford and Gaffaney will stand in the third Test in Sharjah, with Reiffel named as TV umpire.
The ICC said the Pakistani, England, Indian and South African boards had all cooperated in the matter.
“The ICC appreciates the cooperation of all four Boards in facilitating the changes; the BCCI, CSA, PCB and ECB,” the press release said.
The ICC on Monday announced that it had withdrawn Aleem Dar from the remaining matches in the ongoing India-South Africa series over security concerns.
The ICC made the decision following Monday’s incident in Mumbai where a group of activists of India's far-right political group Shiv Sena attacked the headquarters of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), just before Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Shaharyar Khan was to meet BCCI chief Shashank Manohar to discuss a bilateral series in December.
