The ILT20 League is going on in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Sharjah with all its glory. Several T20 cricket stars like Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Keiron Pollard, Alex Hales, and Trent Boult are participating in the league. Also, there are many renowned commentators whose magical voices are setting the stage on fire.
But do you know who the umpires and referees in the DP World ILT20 League are who are officials panel for the ILT20? Well, the match officials panel in the tournament includes some heavily popular names. We have brought you the complete list of umpires and match referees for the UAE T20 League.
So, let’s talk about them one by one.
1. Simon Taufel
The former ICC umpire was regarded as the best umpire of his time now in officials panel for the ILT20. From 2004 to 2008, he won 5 consecutive ICC Umpire of the year awards. He made his umpiring debut in International cricket (ODIs) in 1999 when he was just 27 years old. In the year 2000, Taufel umpired his first test match, which was a boxing day test in Melbourne.
Simon Taufel performed the duties of the on-field umpire in the opening game of the UAE T20 League. Now he is working as a match referee during the league. After becoming part of the newest cricket league, he expressed his joy as:
“I am very excited to be leading the match officials at the DP World ILT20. Franchise cricket has completely changed the outlook of the sport and I am thrilled to be a part of a new cricket league emerging in the world. The DP World ILT20 will certainly provide another platform for youngsters to showcase their talent and also rub shoulders with some of the best players in the world. I also hope that this league will inspire more people from the UAE to get involved in match officiating and that in the future this will be a platform for local umpires to develop their careers. I cannot wait to takee the field on the opening day of the competition.”
2. Roshan Mahanama
Roshan Mahanama represented Sri Lanka in 265 International matches in his 13-year career. He was also part of Sri Lanka’s World Cup winning team in 1996. After retiring as an International cricketer in 1999, he decided to start the journey to become a match referee.
His International debut as a match referee came in 2004, and he stayed as an ICC match referee for 11 years before retiring in 2015. Now, he is doing the same duty in officials panel for the ILT20 League.
3. Rod Tucker
Rod Tucker is one of the most famous umpires going around at the moment. His career as an ICC umpire started in 2008, and he is still serving in this role. Rod has umpired in the 2015 and 2019 World Cups. As a cricketer, he has over 5,000 first-class runs to his name. He is doing the umpiring duties in the ILT20 season 1.
4. Richard Kettleborough
He is another former first-class cricketer who later turned into an umpire. His debut as an International umpire came in 2009, and he has stood in the finals of the ODI World Cup 2015 and Champions Trophy 2017. He is one of the fans’ favourite umpires in world cricket.
5. Akbar Ali Khan
Akbar Ali will represent the UAE as an umpire in the DP World T20 League. He made his International umpiring debut in 2016 in a T20I. He stood in his first ODI in 2017, and it will be his first experience umpiring in a league tournament.
6. Alex Wharf
Wharf is a former cricketer who played 13 ODIs for England. His International umpiring career kickstarted in 2018, and he has umpired in 49 International matches.
7. Leslie Reifer
Leslie Reifer is another man on the list of the ILT20 League umpire. His International umpiring career started in 2016 and is still going on.
8. Martin Saggers
Ruchira started his International umpiring career in 2008 and has stood in the 2015 ODI World Cup and the 2016 Asia Cup final.
10. Shiju Mannil
Shiju Mannil is the last name on the list of the ILT20 League umpires. He is one of the two umpires from UAE who will be standing in the DP World T20 league.
