An umpire’s favour Tendulkar could not resist asking for
Tariq Butt, the longest-serving cricket umpire in the UAE, is a treasure trove of anecdotes. Many of his stories are centred around the players’ dressing room during the heydays of the Cricketers Benefit Fund Series in Sharjah, where he was a ubiquitous figure. “The funniest incident was while I was umpiring the world eleven led by Richie Richardson versus UAE match. UAE pacer Sohail Butt bowled bouncers at Malcolm Marshall, which surprised the West Indian pacer. Unfortunately for Sohail, the UAE batting collapsed and he had to come out to bat. “Seeing Butt, Marshall asked Richardson to give him an over. Marshall took the ball and instead of taking his diagonal run up, took a straight long run up, forcing Butt to move towards the leg umpire. Somehow, the latter managed to get an edge off Marshall, who sportingly did not bowl a bouncer. Butt, after taking the single, refused to come to the striker’s end — making Marshall laugh his heart out.”
Butt was an extremely popular figure among international players, so much so that Clive Lloyd called him ‘Big Butt’. “From then on everyone called me by that nickname. As players’ dressing room in-charge, I had to face a tricky situation involving Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly and Sri Lankan skipper Sanath Jayasuriya during the 2000 Coca Cola Cup. Sri Lanka wanted the dressing room that was allotted to India but when I asked Ganguly, he bluntly refused. Jayasuriya went on to hit 189 in that match and, on his way back to the dressing room, asked me if Ganguly still wants to keep that dressing room. Indians were bowled out for 54 in that match and once again while returning after winning the match, Jayasuriya asked me to check with Ganguly if he still wanted that dressing room.”
Tariq Butt was also sought after by Sachin Tendulkar, who craved the egg parottas he would order from a local eatery. “Whenever Tendulkar used to see me, he would ask for it and I used to get it for him from a nearby hotel. During the 2011 World Cup, I went to Mohali to watch the India-Pakistan semifinal. I was in the team hotel lobby and Tendulkar, who was signing autographs, left everybody and came and hugged me. I was so touched and he invited me for breakfast next day.”
Tariq was also instrumental in ‘hummus’ becoming a regular feature of the Sharjah Stadium menu for international matches. “Shahid Afridi, during his first visit to Sharjah, asked me if I could get the white dish with olive oil in middle. He did not know the name. When I got it for him, Abdul Razzaq too wanted it. I soon informed CBFS coordinator Asif Iqbal, who immediately ordered it to be part of the daily lunch.”