KARACHI: Aleem Dar will officiate in his first-ever Test at home, while Ahsan Raza and Mohammad Javed Malik will also make their Test debuts as the Pakistan Cricket Board, on behalf of the International Cricket Council, on Saturday confirmed match officials’ appointments for the two-match series.

Elite panelist Aleem has umpired in a record 132 Tests since making his debut in 2003 in Dhaka, while Ahsan — part of the ICC international panel — has umpired in 37 ODIs and 57 T20Is. Javed Malik, a former first-class cricketer and a member of the ICC’s international panel, has refereed in 10 ODIs and six T20Is.

Asif Yaqoob and Rashid Riaz will be the third and fourth umpires, respectively, while Javed will lead the playing control team for both the Tests.

As per the ICC’s interim playing regulations, the requirement to appoint third country officials has temporarily been removed from the playing conditions for all international formats owing to the current logistical challenges with international travel. The ICC, however, continues to appoint locally based match officials from the ICC Elite Panel of Match Officials and the ICC International Panel of Match Officials.

For the three-match T20I series, Javed will carry on as the match referee, while Aleem and Ahsan will be the on-field umpires for the first match with Shozab Raza acting as TV umpire and Asif as fourth umpire.

Shozab and Asif will stand in the second T20I with Ahsan and Rashid as third and fourth umpires, respectively, while Aleem and Rashid will be the on-field umpires for the third T20I with Ahsan and Shozab as third and fourth umpires, respectively.

Published in Dawn, January 17th, 2021