BCCI’s 1997-98 batch of umpires celebrate 25 years of friendship in Agra

BCCI’s 1997-98 batch of umpires at the iconic Taj Mahal in Agra yesterday

In a rare gathering, around 25 BCCI umpires from one particular batch (1997-98) are celebrating a grand silver jubilee at a three-day function (June 11-13) in Agra. Interestingly, out of 35, who cleared the examination in 1997-98, seven umpires - Ganesh Iyer, Ajit Datar, Anil Dandekar, Umesh Dubey, Manohar Pawar, Chandrakant Mhase and Rajesh Deshpande - are from Mumbai.

The group, however, will be missing three of their batch mates - Vilas Bandiwdekar and Vilas Karhadkar (both from Mumbai) and SM Raju (Chennai), who have passed away. The idea of coming together with families to recall their 25-year umpiring journey, was initiated by Jamshedpur-based Ravi Shankar, Ahmedabad's Kamlesh Sharma and Iyer, who is the chairman of the reunion committee.

"This must be the first-ever reunion of a batch of umpires in any cricket association in the world," Iyer told mid-day from Agra. However, four umpires from the same batch - Anil Chaudhary, Nandan, Rajiv Risodkar and Deshpande - are unable to attend as they are in Ahmedabad, conducting the BCCI umpires exam for former cricketers.

"It's a great opportunity to not just share our cricketing experiences, but to also get in touch with old friends from our profession," said Deshpande. Chaudhary, who has officiated in 12 Tests, 48 ODIs and 64 T20Is, recalled his first big assignment as an umpire. "My debut game was a Ranji one-day match at Wankhede in January 2000, where Mumbai bundled out Saurashtra for just 34 and chased the target in eight overs. Arun Bharadwaj was my partner. There used to be a one-day game followed by a four-day match then. This one-day fixture finished so early that we had to actually wait for a long time for lunch to be served," Chaudhary recalled with a laugh.

Also Read: ICC Cricket Committee scraps ‘soft signal' by on-field umpires