South African umpire Allahudien Paleker has been officiating in a Test match for the first time in the ongoing second match against India at the Wanderers in Johannesburg. However, one of the lesser-known facts about him is that he has a family that traces its origins to Ratnagiri in Maharashtra. Paleker traces his roots to Shiv village in Khed tehsil of Ratnagiri district.
Shiv village ‘sarpanch’ (village head) Durvesh Palekar told PTI on Wednesday, “I am also a Palekar. He (Allahudien) traces his roots to our Shiv village. His father then migrated to South Africa for a job and later settled there. Allahudien was born in South Africa, but his original village is Shiv, which is in Khed tehsil. The entire village, the gram panchayat (local governing body) is proud of him, that our name and that of the village has gone on the international level. We are extremely happy.”
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Allahudien Paleker, 44, had also officiated in a Ranji Trophy league match between Mumbai and Madhya Pradesh at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai during the 2014/15 Indian domestic season.
Talking about Allahudien Palekar, a senior Mumbai Cricket Association umpire, who was also the MCA’s office-bearer in the past, told PTI, “He did umpire in that Ranji Trophy game and also stood in another Ranji game in India as part of the umpire exchange program.”
In that drawn game against Madhya Pradesh, Allahudien Palekar had witnessed centuries by Suryakumar Yadav (135) and Shreyas Iyer (142 not out). Palekar is a former first-class player and comes from a family of umpires. His father Jamalodien is an umpire. He has been doing more than a decent job in the ongoing Test between India and South Africa.
Allahudien Palekar has stood in matches in the 2015–16 Ram Slam T20 Challenge. He is part of Cricket South Africa’s umpire panel for first-class matches. In November 2017, he was promoted to the ICC International Panel of Umpires. He made his T20I debut during a match between South Africa and India at Centurion Park, in 2018.
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On 19 January 2019, he stood in his first ODI, between South Africa and Pakistan at St. George’s Park. In October 2019, he was appointed as one of the twelve umpires to officiate matches in the 2019 ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier tournament in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
