Legendary South African umpire Rudi Koertzen passed away on Tuesday. The famous match official and three other people were killed in a head-on collision near Riversale. Koertzen's son Rudi Koertzen Jr confirmed the development to Algoa FM News. "He went on a golf tournament with some of his friends, and they were expected to come back on Monday, but it seems they decided to play another round of golf," his son said.
As soon as this development surfaced, former India batter Virender Sehwag was among the first ones to pay his homage to the legendary umpire.
"Vale Rudi Koertzen ! Om Shanti. Condolences to his family. Had a great relation with him. Whenever I used to play a rash shot, he used to scold me saying, “Play sensibly, I want to watch your batting. One he wanted to buy a particular brand of cricket pads for his son," tweeted Sehwag.
In another tweet, Sehwag said: "And enquired about it from me. I gifted him and he was so grateful . A gentleman and a very wonderful person. Will miss you Rudi. Om Shanti."
Koertzen had officiated in his first international match in 1992.
In 1997, he was then appointed as a full-time International Cricket Council (ICC) umpire. He had become the second umpire after Steve Bucknor, to officiate in more than 200 ODIs and 100 Tests.
He had also acted as the third umpire in the 2003 and 2007 World Cup finals. He brought curtains on his umpiring career in 2010. His last match as an umpire was the Test between Australia and Pakistan.