The match officials’ appointment for the Champions Trophy 2025 has been released. The ICC announced the appointment of 15 match officials, comprising three match referees and 12 umpires for the Champions Trophy 2025, on March. The tournament is slated to be held in Karachi from February 19 to March 9. The tournament will be played across three venues in Pakistan: Karachi, Lahore, and Rawalpindi, and India will play all its matches (including semi-finals and finals, if they qualify) in Dubai, beginning with a match against Bangladesh on February 20.
There will be no Indian match officials in the tournament. Indian pace great Javagal Srinath is the only Indian in the ICC Elite panel of match referees, whereas Nitin Menon is the sole Indian in the ICC Elite Panel of Umpires.
“ICC wanted to put him(Menon) on the Champions Trophy roster. But he refused travelling to Pakistan due to personal reasons,” a BCCI source told news agency PTI.
Australian legend David Boon, Sri Lankan great Ranjan Madugalle, and Zimbabwean Andrew Pycroft were appointed as match referees for the eight-team tournament. The three match referees appointed for the tournament are all very experienced. Boon has officiated in the Champions Trophy final in 2017, Madugalle is back after officiating the 2013 final, while Pycroft also was part of the 2017 tournament.
“The eight-team event will witness a distinguished panel of twelve umpires, with Richard Kettleborough being among the six returning officials from the 2017 edition. Having officiated in the final of the last Champions Trophy in the UK, Kettleborough, who now boasts the experience of 108 ODIs, will be joined by fellow umpires Chris Gaffaney, Kumar Dharmasena, Richard Illingworth, Paul Reiffel, and Rod Tucker, all of whom officiated in the 2017 tournament,” said the ICC in a release. “
Dharmasena would be adding to his own total of 132 ODIs, a record for an umpire from Sri Lanka in the One-Day format, in this tournament.”
Menon will be unable to officiate in the matches taking place in Dubai, as per the ICC’s policy of appointing neutral umpires for such matches. The world body made no comment regarding Menon in its statement announcing the officials’ list.
Then, a TOI report quoted Srinath saying he applied for leave during the Champions Trophy 2025. “Yes I had asked for leave as I had quite a few days away from home in the month of November, December and January,” he said.
Match Officials: Umpires: Kumar Dharmasena, Chris Gaffaney, Michael Gough, Adrian Holdstock, Richard Illingworth, Richard Kettleborough, Ahsan Raza, Paul Reiffel, Sharfuddoula Ibne Shahid, Rodney Tucker, Alex Wharf, Joel Wilson.
