Sharfuddoula Ibne Shaid Saikat, a former cricketer who is now an umpire, has been selected to be one of the 20 match officials for the league round of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023, which will take place in India.
Saikat, who is an umpire on the Emerging Umpire Panel of the ICC at the moment, will be the first Bangladeshi to officiate in the Men’s One-Day International World Cup. According to a press statement issued by the International Cricket Council (ICC), he will serve as the fourth umpire for the opening match on October 5 in Ahmedabad, which will be played between England and New Zealand.
The press release said: Sixteen umpires will officiate the 13th edition of the tournament, including all 12 of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires and four members of the ICC Emerging Umpire Panel, they are: Chris Brown, Kumar Dharmasena, Marais Erasmus, Chris Gaffaney, Michael Gough, Adrian Holdstock, Richard Illingworth, Richard Kettleborough, Nitin Menon, Ahsan Raza, Paul Reiffel, Sharfuddoula Ibne Shaid, Rod Tucker, Alex Wharf, Joel Wilson and Paul Wilson.
Only Aleem Dar, who resigned from his position on the Elite Panel in March of this year, is absent from the experienced list. Dharmasena, Erasmus, and Tucker are the three experienced umpires that were appointed for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019 final at Lord’s.
Jeff Crowe, Andy Pycroft, Richie Richardson, and Javagal Srinath are the four individuals who are serving as the event’s representatives for the Emirates ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees. These individuals are all past members of the national and international cricket teams.
On October 5 in Ahmedabad, Srinath will preside over the match that kicks off the competition between the winners of the last recent competition, England, and New Zealand. Standing umpires will be Menon and Dharmasena, with Paul Wilson serving as the television umpire and Saikat assuming responsibilities as the fourth umpire.
The individuals who will officiate throughout the entirety of the League phase have been selected, and it is expected that the selections for the tournament’s semi-finals and final will be made in due course.