'Tied' Test Umpire Dara Dotiwalla Passes Away

Former international umpire Dara Dotiwalla died aged 85 on Wednesday (January 30). The Indian umpire will be best remembered for officiating the famous tied game at Chennai between India and Australia in 1986. He was standing in the game along withV Vikramraju. The match, which was the second tied Test in cricket history, ended with Vikramraju controversially adjudging India’s No. 11 Maninder Singh lbw to Greg Matthews.

Batting first, Australia declared at 574 for 7 on the third day with Dean Jones’ 210 being the top score. India lost 7 wickets for 270 runs by the end of the third day, and were all out for 397, avoiding the follow on by only 23 runs. Australia declared their innings on 170 for 5, setting India a target of 348 to win. India replied strongly and were well placed at 204 for 2 at one stage. However, the hosts lost a flurry of wickets to find themselves reeling at 344 for 9 by the last over. The game eventually ended on the fifth ball of the last over of the game.

“He (Dotiwalla) passed away at his residence here this evening due to old age,” Dotiwalla’s son-in-law Adi Mistry told PTI over phone.

Overall, Dotiwalla plied his trade in international cricket for six years, officiating in six Tests and eight ODIs from 1982 to 1988. He began his umpiring career in international cricket from the India-England Test in Kanpur in 1982. His last assignment as a Test umpire was the match between India and the West Indies in Delhi from November 25-29, 1987.

Dotiwalla’s first ODI as an umpire was the fixture between India and Sri Lanka in Bengaluru in 1982. He last officiated an international game during 1988 when he stood in the Cuttack ODI between India and  New Zealand.