Taufel and Dar to umpire World Cup final
Simon Taufel and Aleem Dar have been named as the on-field Umpires for the World Cup final between India and Sri Lanka on Saturday
ESPNcricinfo staff
31-Mar-2011
Simon Taufel will stand in his first ODI World Cup final in Mumbai on Saturday • Getty Images
Simon Taufel and Aleem Dar have been named as the on-field Umpires for the World Cup final between India and Sri Lanka on Saturday. Ian Gould and Steve Davis will be third and fourth umpires, respectively, while Jeff Crowe will perform match referee duties for the game.
The DRS has played a strong role in this World Cup - sometimes controversially - but both Taufel and Dar have had largely flawless tournaments, while Gould and Davis have also been generally accurate in their decisions.
Two of the younger umpires on the ICC's elite panel, Taufel and Dar's umpiring careers have run almost concurrently. Taufel officiated in his first one-day international in January 1999, while Dar's first international came just over a year later, and since then both have earned reputations for consistently accurate decision-making.
Taufel was named Umpire of the Year for five consecutive years from 2004 to 2008, and when he finally lost the title it was to Dar, who won the award in both 2009 and 2010.
Both have stood in two previous World Cups, and in 2007 Dar was one of the on-field umpires for the final between Australia and Sri Lanka - although he came in for some criticism after the farcical finale of that match for his role in misinterpreting the rules regarding bad light.
Taufel officiated in the final of the 2004 Champions Trophy and as the ICC World Twenty20 in South Africa, where he was an on-field umpire in the thrilling India v Pakistan final. He once joked "if Ricky and the boys slip up eventually I might get the chance to do a [World Cup] final", and with Australia having crashed out of this tournament after three consecutive World Cup triumphs, he will finally get his chance.
Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland welcomed Taufel's appointment. "The Australian team's success in World Cups over a long period of time has been to the detriment of Simon Taufel who has never been able to officiate in a World Cup final," Sutherland told AFP. "It's fantastic to see him get this opportunity."