VIDEO | Aleem Dar showcases his inner Usain Bolt to leave SCG in splits

01/05/2020

There's always a debate on who is the fastest athlete on the cricket field - MS Dhoni or Virat Kohli or Glenn Maxwell or Jos Buttler. Well, turns out it is Aleem Dar, after all. On Day 3, post-lunch, the umpire sprinted across the field from square leg to point in no time to leave SCG in stitches.

Umpire Aleem Dar, of late, has transformed into quite the character on the field. In the first Test in Perth, the veteran from Pakistan, after being 'tackled' by Mitchell Santner, went down in pain, before recovering from the injury in no time to soldier on for the rest of the match. This particular incident made him an overnight star and he soon became a fan favourite due to his antics.

And just when we all thought Dar couldn't out-do his antics in Perth, he pulled off a crazy stunt on Day 3 of the Sydney Test, one that would put a lot of cricketers to shame. On the 56th over of the New Zealand innings, which was also subsequently the first after lunch on Day 3, the bowler Nathan Lyon, batsman Glenn Phillips and all the players on the field were all set to restart play. But just when the ball was about to be bowled, Dar, who was standing at square-leg, out of nowhere, sprinted his heart out towards the other end to stand at point, the equivalent position on the off-side.

Dar sprinted towards the other end with all his heart, piercing the gap between the batsman and the stumps. At one point, it looked like he was gonna smash the stumps, but he swiftly evaded all three sticks. The sprint from umpire Dar was so fast that within a blink of an eye, he'd reached the other end. In fact, for a second, everyone wondered if Dar was temporarily possessed by Usain Bolt. Even Shane Warne, on air, was impressed by Dar's burst of pace. "That was some serious pace from Aleem Dar," said the legendary Aussie leggie. Dar's extraordinary pace invoked hysterical laughter all over the ground, with even Dar himself seeing the funny side of it, letting out a quirky grin.

Well, at least we now know who the fastest athlete on a cricket field is. Dhoni, Kohli and Maxwell, step aside, lads.