ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Umpire Aleem Dar will be umpiring in International Cricket Council (ICC) World Twenty20 opener on March 8 between Zimbabwe and Hong Kong at Nagpur.
This was announced by the ICC on Thursday while naming a 31-member match officials’ team for the World T20 at India, which runs from March 8 to April 3.
India’s Javagal Srinath will also earn the distinction of refereeing in the March 8 opener between Zimbabwe and Hong Kong. He will lead the “Playing Control Team”, which includes Aleem Dar and Ian Gould as on- field umpires, Marais Erasmus as TV umpire and Richard Illingworth as fourth umpire.
The Playing Control Team includes all the seven and 12 members of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees and Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires, respectively, as well as 10 members of the Emirates International Panel of ICC Umpires and two members of the ICC Associate and Affiliate Panel of International Umpires.
Match referees include David Boon, Chris Broad, Jeff Crowe, Ranjan Madugalle, Andy Pycroft, Richie Richardson and Javagal Srinath. Umpires include Anil Chaudhary, Johan Cloete, Kathy Cross, Aleem Dar, Kumar Dharmasena, Marais Erasmus, Simon Fry, Chris Gaffaney, Michael Gough, Ian Gould, Richard Illingworth, Richard Kettleborough, Vineet Kulkarni, Nigel Llong, Ranmore Martinesz, CK Nandan, Bruce Oxenford, Ruchira Palliyaguruge, Claire Polosak, Paul Reiffel, Chettithody Shamshuddin, Ravi Sundaram, Rod Tucker and Joel Wilson.
The umpires’ panel includes two female umpires New Zealand’s Kathleen Cross and Claire Polosak of Australia.
Cross will become the first female umpire to officiate in the World T20 in Chennai on March 16 match featuring Pakistan and Bangladesh along with Anil Chaudhary. Two days later, Polosak will make her debut in the New Zealand-Ireland women’s match in Mohali on March 18.
The seven Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees hold a combined experience of 113 ICC World Twenty20 matches between them. Of the 24 umpires, half will be making their ICC World Twenty20 tournament debuts. These are: Anil Chaudhary, Johan Cloete, Kathleen Cross, Simon
Fry, Chris Gaffeney, Michael Gough, Vineet Kulkarni, CK Nandan, Ruchira Palliyaguruge, Claire Polosak, Chettithody Shamshuddin and Joel Wilson.
