Bangladesh not to tour over security concerns, how Sharafudoula is umpiring in India

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has decided not to send its team to India to play matches in the T20 World Cup citing security concerns for Bangladeshis in India.

Although the International Cricket Council (ICC) has urged the BCB to reconsider the decision, the board has remained firm in its stance.

During the most recent video conference between the two sides, the ICC pointed out that Bangladeshi umpire Sharfuddoula Ibne Shahid is currently officiating matches in India without facing any security issues.

Over the past few days, several Indian media outlets have also reported on Sharafudoula’s officiating duties in India.

Bangladeshi umpire Sharfuddoula Ibne Shahid is part of the umpiring panel for the ongoing India–New Zealand ODI series. Following the first ODI in Vadodara on 11 January, he also served as third umpire in the second ODI in Rajkot on Wednesday.

He may even be seen as an on-field umpire in the final ODI of the series in Indore on 18 January.

Sharfuddoula’s presence in India and his involvement in officiating Indian matches have prompted questions in some quarters: if the BCB is unwilling to send the national team because of security concerns, how is Sharfuddoula able to umpire in India?

In international cricket, umpires and match referees are appointed by the ICC. The ICC follows a set of criteria in determining which umpires will officiate in any given match or series. The ICC website outlines some of these considerations.

These include maintaining neutrality and independence from the participating countries, giving greater opportunities to the best-performing umpires who are available at the time, avoiding the repeated appointment of the same umpire for matches involving a particular team, and managing overall workload.

It is worth noting that for a long time after international cricket began, umpires were appointed by the host country’s cricket board. In 1993, the ICC introduced the system of appointing one neutral umpire for each Test match, a practice that was later extended to ODIs. To facilitate the appointment of neutral umpires, the game’s governing body established the Elite Panel in 2002.

For more than two decades, umpires for bilateral series between full member nations and ICC tournaments have primarily been selected from this Elite Panel.

However, as the number of Elite Panel umpires is limited, officials from the International Panel are also appointed for major tournaments.

There are four panels of umpires. The first is the National Umpires Panel, whose members operate primarily under their respective national cricket boards. They officiate domestic first-class, List A and T20 matches.

The next level is the ICC International Umpires Panel. Umpires in this category are eligible to officiate ODIs and international T20 matches on home soil. The third tier is the ICC Emerging Umpires Panel, which is essentially the final step before promotion to the Elite Panel.

The highest level is the ICC Elite Umpires Panel. Umpires on this panel officiate as neutral officials in Test and ODI matches.

Currently, there are 12 umpires on the Elite Panel, and Bangladesh’s sole representative among them is Sharfuddoula Ibne Shahid. He was inducted into the Elite Panel in March 2024, becoming the first Bangladeshi umpire to achieve this distinction.

Elite Panel umpires are directly contracted by the ICC. Wherever the ICC assigns them, they travel to officiate. For example, Sharafudoula was on the field for the Brisbane Test during last month’s Ashes series between Australia and England. After officiating matches in the BPL in the interim, he has now travelled to India for the India–New Zealand series.

Sharfuddoula does officiate in tournaments organised by the BCB. However, when it comes to international cricket, he operates under the authority of the ICC. As an Elite Panel umpire, he does not require clearance from the BCB.

BCB director Iftekhar Rahman has made this clear, saying, “He is an ICC-contracted umpire. He is not contracted to us. The agreement we have is that whenever he has ICC duties, he will leave to perform them. There is no question of issuing a no-objection certificate. It is stated in the agreement that if there is ICC work, he is automatically released. We have no authority to grant or deny him permission to travel anywhere.”