IPL 2020: BCCI struggling to convince Elite Panel officials for the tournament

While the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is making IPL 2020 happen, they were unable to convince many umpires from ICC’s Elite Panel to officiate in the 13th edition of the money-spinning league. Only four out of the 16 selected umpires are from the Elite Panel.

“There are four from ICC’s Elite Panel who have been selected to officiate in the tournament. The rest are Indian umpires. We are looking to bring in the umpires in the UAE around September 10,” sources told ANI.

The three overseas umpires are New Zealand’s Chris Gaffaney, Richard Illingworth from England and Australian Paul Reifel, while the lone Indian on the list from the elite panel is Nitin Menon.

The BCCI normally has the services of around six foreign Elite Panel umpires in the IPL, and that number was supposed to go up this season since there are no international matches scheduled in that window. However, the umpires have turned down BCCI’s proposal in view of the pandemic situation.

“BCCI had approached quite a few Elite umpires but they have rejected the offer. For instance, Kumar Dharmasena, who has been a regular in IPL over the years, has categorically said no to BCCI. He said he would be busy with cricket in Sri Lanka,” a source told Times of India.

BCCI is still negotiating with more umpires for IPL 2020, as per sources

IPL 2020 will be played over a 51-day period. Image Credits: Times of India

Sources suggested that the BCCI is still in the process of convincing more umpires. As for the Elite Panel of match referees, only Javagal Srinath will be present during IPL 2020.

The other officials include International Panel umpires Anil Chaudhary, C Shamsuddin, Virender Sharma, KN Ananthapadmanabhan and former Elite Panel umpire S Ravi. While 12 of them will be deployed for on-field and TV umpire duties, three will only be assigned to the job of the fourth umpire.

The BCCI was forced to move IPL 2020 to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases in India. The 13th edition will be played behind closed doors at three venues – Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah – starting from September 19, with the final scheduled for November 10.