Ahmed Shah Pakteen was born on 1 January 1977 in Herat, Afghanistan. The 49-year-old Afghan umpire broke onto the world stage after joining the International Panel of ICC Umpires. One of his early multi-day assignments came when he stood in matches throughout the 2015–17 ICC Intercontinental Cup tournament.
On 14 January 2017, Pakteen made his official Twenty20 International umpiring debut. He stood in the middle for a fixture between Scotland and Hong Kong, played as part of the 2017 Desert T20 Challenge. Shortly after that T20I debut, he stepped into One Day Internationals for the first time on 15 March 2017, officiating an ODI match between Afghanistan and Ireland.
Pakteen soon became a regular fixture at major global tournaments. In 2019, organizers selected him as one of twelve umpires tasked with handling matches at the 2019 ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier tournament in the United Arab Emirates. He also expanded his refereeing portfolio into women's international cricket, officiating six Women's T20Is in 2018 and four Women's ODIs in 2022.
Pakteen reached the pinnacle of red-ball officiating in 2021 when he stood in two Test matches. His career in men's limited-overs cricket covers 40 ODIs spanning from 2017 to 2025, alongside 36 T20Is between 2017 and 2026.
In January 2020, officials named Pakteen to a sixteen-man umpiring panel for the 2020 Under-19 Cricket World Cup tournament in South Africa.
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