Former Pakistan umpire Javed Akhtar passes away, aged 75

Javed Akhtar, the former Pakistan cricketer and umpire, passed away at the age of 75 on Friday (July 8). Akhtar, an offspinner born in Delhi in November 1940, went on to play just one Test match, against England at Headingley in 1962. He went wicket-less in the game and did not feature in an international fixture again. Akhtar, however, picked up 187 wickets and 835 runs in 51 first-class matches he played

between 1959-60 and 1975-76. Akhtar returned to the cricket field as an umpire and officiated in 18 Tests and 40 One-Day Internationals. The last handful of games he officiated in were marred with controversies, including his decision to uphold a Javagal Srinath appeal for lbw against Graham Thorpe in his last ODI game - the 1999 Cricket World Cup encounter between England and India in Birmingham.

He was also accused of biased umpiring in his penultimate Test as an official the game between England and South Africa at Headingley in 1998 where he gave as many as eight questionable decisions against the visitors.