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Piloo Dara Reporter (24 September 1938 – 3 September 2023) was an Indian international
cricket umpire In cricket, an umpire (from the Old French meaning not a peer, i.e. not a member of one of the teams, impartial) is a person who has the authority to make decisions about events on the cricket field according to the ''Laws of Cricket''. Besides ...
who umpired in 14
Test matches Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Indoor cricket, Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (associa ...
and 22
One Day International One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...
s in a career spanning three decades. He was among the first of the two neutral umpires, in modern cricket, when he officiated in a Test match between Pakistan and the West Indies in
Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...
in 1986.


Biography

Reporter was born in
Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...
on 24 September 1938. He started his career with the
Maharashtra State Electricity Board Maharashtra State Electricity Board (or MSEB) (Marathi language, Marathi:महाराष्ट्र राज्य विद्युत मंडळ) is a Government of Maharashtra, state government electricity regulation board operating wi ...
. He responded to an advertisement by the then-
Bombay Cricket Association The Mumbai Cricket Association (formerly Bombay Cricket Association) is the governing body for cricket in Mumbai and surrounding regions such as Thane, Navi Mumbai. Its headquarters is situated at Wankhede Stadium in Churchgate. It governs M ...
calling for umpires. He failed the tests initially, but, later made it as an umpire with the association and started by officiating as an umpire in the domestic circuit. His first match as an umpire in a domestic
Ranji Trophy The Ranji Trophy is a premier domestic first-class cricket championship played in India and organized annually by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The teams representing regional and state cricket associations participate. BCCI ...
match was at the age of 29. In 1984, he made his international umpiring debut in both
Test matches Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Indoor cricket, Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (associa ...
and
one day international One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...
s (ODI), standing in 14 Tests and 22 ODI's until 1994. His first test match was in 1984 in Delhi, where he officiated the test between India and England, while his last test was also between the two teams, in Mumbai (then Bombay), in 1993. In 1986, Reporter and V.K. Ramaswamy became the first neutral umpires from India when they stood in a Test match featuring
Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
and
West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...
in
Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...
. This was the first time neutral umpires had officiated in a Test since 1912. They were invited by the Pakistan captain,
Imran Khan Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi (born 5 October 1952) is a Pakistani politician, philanthropist, and former cricketer who served as the 19th prime minister of Pakistan from August 2018 until April 2022. He was the founder of the political party Pak ...
after allegations of bias by Pakistani umpires. Reporter was the only Indian umpire to officiate in the
1992 Cricket World Cup The 1992 Cricket World Cup (known as the Benson & Hedges World Cup 1992 for sponsorship reasons) was the fifth Cricket World Cup, the premier One Day International cricket tournament for men's national teams, organised by the International Cric ...
that was held in Australia and New Zealand. Reporter was from the
Parsi The Parsis or Parsees () are a Zoroastrian ethnic group in the Indian subcontinent. They are descended from Persian refugees who migrated to the Indian subcontinent during and after the Arab-Islamic conquest of Iran in the 7th century, w ...
community and was known as "PD" in the cricketing fraternity. The method by which Reporter signalled a boundary had been called "Milkshake" by cricket commentator
Henry Blofeld Henry Calthorpe Blofeld (born 23 September 1939), nicknamed Blowers by Brian Johnston, is an English retired sports journalist, broadcaster and amateur ornithologist best known as a cricket commentator for '' Test Match Special'' on BBC Radi ...
. His autobiography, ''An Umpire Remembers,'' was published by Rupa & Company in 2004. In 1993, Reporter was allegedly paid to give his assessment of the pitch prior to a test in Calcutta to bookie Mukesh Gupta.


Personal life

Reporter was married and had two daughters. His sister, Madhumati, was an actress in Bollywood movies and was a dancer.


Death

Reporter died on 3 September 2023, at age 84.Former International Umpire Piloo Reporter passes away aged 84
/ref> He had been diagnosed with a
cerebral contusion Cerebral contusion (), a form of traumatic brain injury, is a bruise of the brain tissue. Like bruises in other tissues, cerebral contusion can be associated with multiple microhemorrhages, small blood vessel leaks into brain tissue. Contusion ...
earlier.


Book

*


See also

*
List of Test cricket umpires __NOTOC__ This is a list of umpire (cricket), cricket umpires who have officiated at least one men's Test cricket, Test match. As of June 2025, 500 umpires have officiated in a Test match. Current members of the Elite Panel of ICC Umpires, Emirate ...
*
List of One Day International cricket umpires This is a list of umpire (cricket), cricket umpires who have officiated at least one men's One Day International (ODI) match. As of October 2022, 418 umpires have officiated in an ODI match. The first ODI match took place on 5 January 1971 between ...


References


External links


"The fearless Indian scourge of chucking"
by V Ramnarayan {{DEFAULTSORT:Reporter, Piloo 1938 births 2023 deaths Indian Test cricket umpires Indian One Day International cricket umpires Parsi people