Sharfuddoula Ibne Shahid Saikat is all set to become the first umpire from Bangladesh to officiate in a World Cup.
It is, in fact, a rather big deal. Saikat, a member of the ICC Emerging panel, was named by the ICC in the 16-man umpiring panel for the quadrennial event, scheduled in India from October 5 to November 19, 2023.
Saikat, who is considered to be one of the finest Bangladeshi umpires, has officiated in 13 Tests, 85 ODIs and 59 T20Is and will be looking forward to add another accolade to his illustrious career by being part of a World Cup. Nevertheless, the man himself believes that officiating in a Test match was the greatest accolade he could have hoped for.
“It’s obviously a dream to officiate in the forthcoming ICC World Cup. It’s an honour and a privilege, and a huge achievement for me to become the first Bangladeshi to officiate in the World Cup,” Saikat told Cricbuzz. “It’s been the result of a process, and I have earned it through dedication and hard work.”
“However, I think getting appointed to officiate in a Test match was much bigger for me. I was very excited about it because it’s the pinnacle of the sport, and every umpire’s dream to be in charge of a Test match.”
“There was a time when I had my doubts whether I’d be considered for a Test match, because I’d already been an international umpire for 10 to 12 years before I got the chance,” recalled Saikat. “I must have proved that I am capable of handling the pressure of a Test match. And after the Test, I had a feeling that better things would come my way, because my confidence grew higher following that Test against West Indies.
“I have officiated as on field umpire in nine Test matches and I am happy and honoured that my performance in the Test matches got rewarded with a chance to officiate in the World Cup.”
Saikat has so far officiated in some ICC events like ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, ICC Women’s World Cup and Under-19 World Cup and he is grateful for the experience, which has contributed to his growth curve.
“I think I am aware of the environment that prevails in an ICC event, considering I have some experience but at the same time the intensity will be much higher than what I have experienced so far and I am looking forward to that challenge. There will be different teams and so I have to prepare by studying about them,” said Saikat, emphasising the role of preparation even to officiate in elite sport – a factor that often slips under the radar.
“Preparation plays a huge part. I feel is that people have a wrong perception about umpires like we are only there to raise and lower our fingers, and we even have the assistance of DRS.
“There is more to it: you have to leave behind all kind of emotions before the start of the play and carry on with your job irrespective of what is going through your mind. There is a saying that “cricket creates character and umpiring creates life” because as an umpire you will experience everything.
“Everybody is bound to make mistakes, but you have to bounce back from them, and that is the biggest challenge because you made an error in the field and all the TV cameras will show that you’ve made a mistake which can be humiliating. You have to bounce back and deal with public scrutiny. Life cannot be harder than this. People are always against umpires and you have to keep that in mind.”
Saikat further elaborated on how the umpires prepare and do trial runs before any event in order to keep their senses sharp.
“We have a ICC drive where with videos of incidents, and I still make mistakes despite watching them. At times I go to the nets to see what the bowlers are doing. In the World Cup there will be matches after one day or two, and so I have to take that preparation from now on regarding different countries to make sure I am fully prepared for the big event.”
“Like cricketers umpires can also have a bad day, but the most challenging part is that you have to recover very quickly. For instance, a batsman makes a mistake he gets out and goes back to the dressing room. If a bowler is doing badly, the captain will change him to give him time to recover. However, for an umpire that is not that case.
“In my first Test I had made a mistake by giving Shadman LBW, and I thought to myself, there are still five days cricket left. Looking too far ahead would make me anxious, but now I have realized that you just concentrate on your next ball rather than thinking too far ahead, because if you grumble about it, chances are high that you will make more mistakes as the day progresses.”
Saikat feels his appointment in the World Cup is expected to inspire more Bangladeshi umpires, and motivate aspiring candidates to aim higher.
“I think my officiating at the World Cup will be inspiring for other umpires (from Bangladesh) because when they have the belief that it is possible to reach this far, they will be motivated to do better.”
Among the 16 umpires, there will be 12 from the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires and four members of the ICC Emerging Umpires’ Panel in the ICC World Cup 2023.
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.
