Officiating in India-Pakistan Matches Can be Intimidating: Ian Gould

Umpire Ian Gould has revealed that it’s tough officiating in India-Pakistan matches, since both the teams get excellent support from wherever they play in the world.

“It’s intimidating. Not the players. The players are outstanding people. I’ve done seven, eight India-Pakistan games and the guys are real good people. They get on with each other,” Gould told ESPNCricinfo.

“If you allow a crowd to get to you, all that noise and Mexican waves, or whatever, can distract you. Then you start missing bits and pieces and it’s a difficult place to be. But, you know, a couple of lads, last year or two years ago, did Bangladesh-Sri Lanka and there wasn’t one seamer picked in both sides. That would have been pretty difficult.

Gould had retired in 2019 after a 13-year long career as an umpire. He officiated in over 250 international matches in all three formats.

The last time India and Pakistan faced off was in the 2019 World Cup, where India won the match comfortably.

Recently, a fresh controversy has brewed where some former Pakistani cricketers have alleged that India lost the match against England, to make it difficult for the arch-rivals to qualify for the semis.

Former Pakistan spinner Mushtaq Ahmed claims members of the West Indies cricket team told him that India didn’t want Pakistan to qualify for the 2019 World Cup semi-finals after the Men in Blue lost their group encounter to hosts England.

“I was working with the West Indies squad at last year’s World Cup. After India’s loss to England, Jason Holder, Chris Gayle and Andre Russell said to me ‘Mushy, India didn’t want to see Pakistan qualify for the semi-finals,’” Mushtaq told Pakistani news channel ARY Sports.