Abhishek Sharma talks with Haris Rauf of Pakistan during the Asian Cup match between India and Pakistan at the Dubai International Stadium on September 21, 2025 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. (Photo/Getty Images) Elite panel umpire Nitin Menon will officiate in his fourth T20 World Cup, while India’s Anantha Padmanabhan will make his first appearance at an ICC event. The tournament will be held in India and Sri Lanka from February 7.Menon is the only Indian in the ICC Elite Panel and has previously featured in the T20 World Cup in 2021, 2022 and 2024. Another Indian official, J Madanagopal, is also on the list and will be participating in his second T20 World Cup.On the opening day of the tournament, Menon will line up in the middle alongside Sam Nogajski in the Group C match between Scotland and the West Indies. Menon was part of the on-field umpiring team for the first semi-final of the 2024 FIFA T20 World Cup between Afghanistan and South Africa. Nogajski, in the previous edition, officiated in four group matches, including India’s match against the United States.Menon is currently in action in the ongoing T20I series between India and New Zealand. On Saturday, he will complete 150 international matches as an on-field umpire across formats and become the first Indian to reach the milestone.Kumar Dharmasena and Wayne Knights will be the on-field umpires for the Group A match between Pakistan and Netherlands in Sri Lanka on February 7. Dharmasena, a former Sri Lankan off-spinner and a member of the 1996 ODI World Cup winning team, has featured in 37 T20 World Cup matches, including the finals in 2016 and 2022. This puts him fourth on the all-time list for matches decided in the tournament.The Knights will feature in their first T20 World Cup and complete 50 T20Is as on-field umpires during the Group A match in Colombo.The ICC said the dates for the Super Eight and the knockout stages would be announced later.Rod Tucker leads the list of umpires with the most matches played in the T20 World Cup, with 46 so far. The Australian will reach 50 matches during the tournament and will referee matches including England vs Nepal, India vs Namibia and South Africa vs UAE.Chris Gaffaney and Richard Illingworth, who stood together in the 2024 final, will officiate the Group B match between Australia and Ireland on February 11. Illingworth will also be on the field, along with Dharmasena, for the India vs Pakistan match in Colombo on February 15.A total of 24 referees will serve as on-field referees during the group stage. Other cast members include Richard Kettleborough, Ahsan Raza, Langton Rusere and Adrian Holdstock.Match Officials for the 2026 ICC Men’s Under-20 World CupMatch referee:Dean Cosker, David Gilbert, Ranjan Madugalle, Andrew Pycroft, Richie Richardson, Javagal Srinath.Referee:Roland Black, Chris Brown, Kumar Dharmasena, Chris Gaffaney, Adrian Holdstock, Richard Illingworth, Richard Kettleborough, Wayne Knights, Donovan Koch, Jayaraman Madanagopal, Nitin Menon, Sam Nogajski, KNA Padmanabhan, Allahuddien Paleker, Ahsan Raza, Leslie Iffel, Langne Shahide, Paul Reifer, Sharhide, Paul Reifer Gazi Sohel, Rod Tucker, Alex Wharf, Raveendra Wimalasiri, Asif Yaqoob.
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