Ibne Sharfuddoula Shahid As the first Bangladeshi umpire to preside at the World Cup, Saikat will soon make history.
It’s actually quite a major thing. The quadrennial competition, which will take held in India from October 5 to November 19, 2023, would have Saikat on its 16-person umpiring panel. The ICC Emerging panel includes Saikat.
One of the best Bangladeshi officials, Saikat, has officiated 13 Tests, 85 ODIs, and 59 T20 Internationals. He is eager to play in the World Cup to add another accomplishment to his already impressive résumé. Nevertheless, he feels that becoming the match referee for a Test match was the best honours he could have asked for.
Of course, working as a referee during the 2018 ICC World Cup would be a dream. Being the first Bangladeshi to officiate in the World Cup is something I value much and consider to be a great honour and accomplishment, Saikat told Cricbuzz. “I earned it through a process and with a lot of hard work and dedication.”
However, I believe that the chance to referee a Test match was a much bigger success. Since officiating a Test match is the pinnacle of the profession and the dream of every umpire, I was ecstatic.
In retrospect, Saikat admitted, “There was a time when I had my doubts as to whether I’d be considered for a Test match.” This was due to the fact that I had spent 10 to 12 years as an international umpire before I had the opportunity.I needed to demonstrate that I could handle the pressure of a Test match. Due to my current level of confidence, I also believed that after the Test against the West Indies, things would become better.
“I have officiated the World Cup after officiating nine Test matches as an on-field umpire, and I’m happy and honoured that my performance in the Test matches earned me the opportunity to do so.”
Saikat has so far served as a referee at a few ICC competitions, including the Under-19 World Cup and the ICC Women’s World Cup. He is grateful for the opportunity to advance professionally as a result of the experience.
“Given my background, I believe I can comprehend the atmosphere that differentiates an ICC event. Even though the intensity will be much higher than what I have previously experienced, I cannot wait to begin that adventure. Saikat emphasised the importance of planning. This problem is occasionally overlooked, even by professional sports referees. There will be different teams, so I need to get to know them in order to be prepared, she said.
Planning is necessary. I think many people have the impression that all umpires do is raise and lower their fingers while using DRS.There’s more to it than that; in the days leading up to the performance, you must restrain your feelings and continue working despite your thoughts. Because officials witness and participate in everything, the notion that “cricket creates character and umpiring creates life” has been spread.
Everyone will make mistakes, but the hardest thing is learning from them because if you make a mistake on the field, it will be captured on video by every TV station, which might be embarrassing. You must recover quickly so that you can address the criticism of the public. The hardest existence there is is this one. Never forget how despised umpires are by many.
Saikat went on to explain how umpires exercise in order to maintain their level of focus before each competition.
“Despite watching the incident films on our ICC drive, I still make mistakes. I frequent the nets occasionally to watch the bowlers in action. There will be games within a day or two of the World Cup, therefore I need to start my study on other nations as soon as possible to be ready for the major event.
Emperors can have bad days, just like cricket players, but the challenge is that you have to recover very quickly. For instance, a bad hitting player is kicked out and returned to the locker room. The skipper will replace a struggling bowler to give him time to improve. On the other hand, an umpire is an exception.
For calling Shadman leg before wicket in my first Test, I was upset with myself, but I also reminded myself that there were still five days of cricket yet to be played. I used to get anxious whenever I tried to make a long-term strategy, but I’ve since learned that you should just focus on the next ball because if you complain, there’s a good possibility that you’ll be making mistakes all day.
Saikat thinks that being chosen to officiate at the World Cup will inspire many Bangladeshi umpires to set higher standards for themselves.
I believe the World Cup refereeing I performed will inspire others. I asserted, “I think that by demonstrating to other umpires (from Bangladesh) that this is achievable, they will feel inspired to do better.
16 ICC umpires from the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires and 4 from the Emerging Umpires’ Panel will officiate the 2023 ICC World Cup.
Umpires:
Chris Brown, Kumar Dharmasena, Marais Erasmus, Chris Gaffaney, Michael Gough, Adrian Holdstock, Richard Illingworth, Richard Kettleborough, Nitin Menon, Ahsan Raza, Paul Reiffel, Sharfuddoula Ibne Shahid Saikat, Rod Tucker, Alex Wharf, Joel Wilson and Paul Wilson.