Aleem Dar recounts saddest day: 'Family hid daughter's death during 2003 World Cup'

Karachi: Pakistan’s most capped umpire, Aleem Dar has shared the saddest moment of his life when the death of his seven-month-old daughter was kept a secret from him by his wife and family members in the early stages of his international career in 2003.

The 56-year-old recounted on a Pakistani channel that his wife and his family didn’t tell him about the death of his infant daughter while he was umpiring in the 2003 World Cup.

"It was the start of my career as an ICC panel umpire and it was a very important assignment for my career and they knew if I came to know about my daughter’s demise, I would return home immediately,” Dar said on the show.

The highly regarded Pakistani umpire said eventually when he learnt about his daughter’s demise it was the saddest moment of his life and he was hurt badly.

"I was kept in the dark for nearly a month after her passing away and I only came to know about it by chance in Johannesburg where a Pakistani man who belonged to my hometown Sialkot came to offer his condolences to me."

"It was a big shock to me at that time and I immediately informed the ICC and returned home,” Dar said.

The umpire said the moment he learnt about his daughter he called up his wife and she started crying over the phone.

"I came to know later that my father had strictly told the media friends to not print the story," he added.

Dar stood in 145 Tests, 231 ODIs and 72 T20 Internationals in a career spanning from 2000 to 2023.