Bangladesh umpire Sharfuddaula is also part of the Champions Trophy

The ICC has announced the 15 match officials for the upcoming Champions Trophy, with 12 selected to umpire during the 8-team tournament. Among these is Bangladesh’s Sharfuddaula Ibn Shaheed. The remaining three officials will serve as match referees.

The tournament, which begins on February 19 and concludes on March 9, will take place in Pakistan and the UAE. Matches will be hosted in Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi, and Dubai. Of the 12 umpires, six have previous experience from the 2017 Champions Trophy. Richard Kettleborough, who officiated the final in that edition, returns, alongside fellow umpires Chris Gaffaney, Kumar Dharmasena, Richard Illingworth, Paul Reiffel, and Rod Tucker.

The other six umpires for this edition are Michael Gough, Adrian Holdstock, Ehsan Raza, Sharfuddaula Ibn Shaheed, Alex Wharf, and Joel Wilson. All of them officiated at the 2023 ODI World Cup in India, with Kettleborough and Illingworth overseeing the final. Sharfuddaula officiated five matches during that World Cup and also played a key role in the recent Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Last year, he was part of the T20 World Cup, notably officiating the opening match between the USA and Canada, which made him the first Bangladeshi umpire to be part of a men’s T20 World Cup. His impressive career also includes officiating at two Women’s ODI World Cups and one Women’s T20 World Cup. In March 2024, Sharfuddaula became the first Bangladeshi umpire to join the ICC’s elite panel. His international umpiring debut came in 2010 during a Bangladesh-Sri Lanka ODI in Mirpur.

The match referees for the Champions Trophy include David Boon from Australia, Ranjan Madugalle from Sri Lanka, and Andy Pycroft from Zimbabwe, all of whom are members of the ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees. Boon was the match referee for the 2017 final, while Pycroft also officiated during that tournament, and Madugalle served as the match referee for the 2013 final.

Umpires: Kumar Dharmasena, Chris Gaffaney, Michael Gough, Adrian Holdstock, Richard Illingworth, Richard Kettleborough, Ahsan Raja, Paul Reiffel, Sharfuddaula Ibn Shaheed, Rod Tucker, Alex Wharf, and Joel Wilson.

Match referees: David Boon, Ranjan Madugalle, and Andy Pycroft.