Bengaluru, June 12: Former Indian umpire SR Ramachandra Rao, who officiated in batting legend Sunil Gavaskar's historic Test where he scored the 10,000th run, passed away today (June 12) at the age of 85 years.
The Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA), in a media release, on Monday, condoled the sad and sudden demise of Rao.
"The President, office bearers and members of the management committee of the Karnataka State Cricket Association deeply condole the sad and sudden demise of Sri SR Ramachandra Rao," the state association said.
Born on September 16, 1931, Rao made his first-class umpiring debut in a Ranji Trophy match between Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh in Aligarh in November 1975.
He officiated in 20 first-class games, including 4 involving visiting teams. His only Test was the India-Pakistan contest in Ahmedabad in March 1987.
The drawn game is best remembered for Gavaskar becoming the first batsman to complete 10,000 runs in the five-day format. Gavaskar scored 63 runs on way to entering the record books.
In that historic Test, Rao and Ram Gupta were the on-field umpires. Gupta died in 2008 at the age of 72.
Rao also stood in 5 List A games, which included 3 One-Day Internationals. His last assignment was the rain-affected ODI between India and Pakistan in Pune in March 1987, which the visitors won by 6 wickets.
OneIndia News