ICC's Chief Match Referee Ranjan Madugalle will make his Pakistan Super League debut when he will referee in the seventh edition of the Pakistan Cricket Board's (PCB) marquee event, which will be held in Karachi from January 27-February 7 and then from February 10-27 in Lahore.
Madugalle played 21 Tests and 63 ODIs for Sri Lanka from 1979 to 1988 and has refereed in 125 Twenty20 Internationals. This is in addition to the 201 Tests and 370 ODIs he has refereed since joining the ICC's elite panel of match referees in 1993. Madugalle has been a regular visitor to Pakistan for international assignments, with his last visit being in January 2020 for the three T20Is against Bangladesh.
Madugalle's first match in the tournament will be the high-profile match between Karachi Kings and Lahore Qalandars, which will be held in Karachi on Sunday, 30 January. For this match, Madugalle will lead the Playing Control Team, which will comprise Richard Illingworth and Michael Gough (both on-field umpires), Faisal Afridi (third umpire), and Imran Jawed (fourth umpire).
Madugalle will be involved in nine of the 30 preliminary round matches and his presence is expected to help and assist Pakistan's emerging umpires and match referees. Madugalle will be joined by his former teammate Roshan Mahanama, who has previously refereed in the PSL.Mahanama will also referee in nine matches, including the January 27 tournament opener between Karachi Kings and Multan Sultans. Aleem Dar and Richard Illingworth will be the on-field umpires, while Ahsan Raza will be the third umpire and Imran Jawed as the fourth umpire.
The other three event match referees will be Ali Naqvi, Iftikhar Ahmed, and Mohammad Javed Malik from the PCB's elite panel of match referees.
Apart from Aleem Dar, Michael Gough, and Richard Illingworth of the ICC's elite panel of umpires, local umpires to share umpiring responsibilities include Ahsan Raza, Asif Yaqoob, Faisal Khan Afridi, Imtiaz Iqbal, Imran Jawed, Nasir Hussain, Rashid Riaz, Shozab Raza, and Waleed Yaqub. All are members of the PCB's elite panel of umpires.
Match referees (5): Ali Naqvi, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Javed Malik, Ranjan Madugalle, and Roshan Mahanama.
Umpires (12) - Ahsan Raza, Aleem Dar, Asif Yaqoob, Faisal Khan Afridi, Imtiaz Iqbal, Imran Jawed, Michael Gough, Nasir Hussain, Rashid Riaz, Richard Illingworth, Shozab Raza, and Waleed Yaqub.
( With inputs from ANI )
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