Piloo Reporter, First Of Neutral Umpires In International Cricket, Passes Away At 84
Published - 03 Sep 2023, 10:29 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:18 AM
Piloo Reporters, one of the earliest neutral umpires in international cricket, passed away at 84 on Sunday in Mumbai due to illness. As per reports in IANS, Piloo was suffering from Cerebral Contusion disease and was looked after by his wife and his two daughters.
He was one of the umpires in the 1992 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. Overall, he officiated in 14 Test matches and 22 ODIs.
He was one of the two neutral umpires in the 1986 Test match between Pakistan and West Indies in Lahore. Piloo Reporter officiated in the game along with another former Indin umpire VK Ramaswamy.
Neutral umpiring became formal in 1994 but Piloo Reporter started his umpiring career back in 1984 in Delhi during England’s tours of India. He has officiated against big players namely Malcolm Marshall, Viv Richards, and Imran Khan amongst others.
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Umpiring Is Very Much Like Policing Traffic, Traffic Must Move, So Also The Game: Piloo Reporter
He was not overwhelmed in confronting big names in cricket, which included the likes of Malcolm Marshall, Viv Richards, and Imran. “Umpiring is a job very much like policing traffic. The traffic must move, as also the game,” he had told Mid-Day in a chat in 1997.
Incidentally, former Zimbabwean skipper Heath Streak also died on the same day as Piloo Reporter. A few days ago Streak’s death made rumors on social media but the former skipper breathed last on Sunday after a battle against cancer.
Heath Streak’s wife Nadine Streak confirmed the heartbreaking news on Sunday (September 3). A screenshot of the post from Nadine was later shared on X (formerly known as Twitter) by Zimbabwean senator David Coltart. Reporter also officiated a Hero Cup game between Zimbabwe and South Africa in 1993. Incidentally, that was the debut game for Heath Streak who played for Zimbabwe between 1993-2005.
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Anshuman Roy is an author at Cricketaddictor. He has been working with the organization since Januar...
