Cricket Umpire Exams Witness Record-Breaking Turnout As Over 1,500 Aspirants Eye Careers In Officiating

Chennai: On the last Sunday of June, a little more than 950 men, 63 women and a lone trans person hurried into classrooms across Tamil Nadu’s five biggest cities to write a professional exam not to secure their future, but to realise unfulfilled ambitions in a sport they loved since childhood.

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The 1000-plus candidates were appearing for a state panel umpires examination conducted by the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) in Chennai, Madurai, Trichy, Coimbatore and Salem; the association hailed it as a landmark day for the state cricket. Likewise, on the other side of the Western Ghats, 447 candidates appeared for the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA)’s Umpires exam in Pune, which the body said was a ‘record-breaking’ turnout.

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Long-time stakeholders say that the unprecedented response to exams is an indication of two realities: firstly, those who failed to realise their cricketing dream have found a way to still stay close to the game. Secondly, they can earn a healthy income, respect and recognition, while doing that. Additionally, with the massive popularity of Women’s IPL, umpiring has ceased to be an exclusive playground for men, as seen in the gender profile of candidates in the TNCA exam.

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Kaushik Gandhi (36), a Tamil Nadu-cricketer turned umpire who’s also officiated in the IPL, says that many who have played the game competitively are turning to umpiring. Apart from him, the successful transition of Ajitesh Argal and Tanmay Srivastava, who were Virat Kohli’s teammates when India U-19 won the 2008 World Cup, is seen as major encouragement for the switch.

Among those who write these exams are also passionate cricket followers who might lack the skill, age or fitness to play the game, but possess the knowledge to crack the exam, Kaushik said. While professional cricketers may have the edge, anybody who studies hard, watches the game regularly and has the passion can become an umpire, he said.

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V Krithika, a BCCI-empanelled umpire and former India A cricketer from Tamil Nadu says that every state association in India is pushing for a complete women’s umpiring panel after the advent of WPL. “Every state is trying to conduct more women’s cricket leagues and hence this is an opportunity for women. ICC has set an example by appointing only women officials in women’s cricket,” she says.

It is not just former cricketers, but even those from other professions who are taking up umpiring, Krithika says, citing the example of a dentist who is part of Tamil Nadu’s panel of women umpires.

Umpiring opportunities are pivotal as only few government organizations, like Indian Railways, employ women cricketers who still want to associate themselves with cricket, Krithika says.

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Though state associations pay umpires a per-day wage that is higher than what most engineering graduates earn in India, umpiring can only be a side gig because there is a long off-season in domestic cricket. Umpires say that a state panelled umpire in TN gets around Rs 3,000 a day, but can get work only around 100 days a year. BCCI-empanelled umpires are paid around Rs 30,000 a day, but work-days are only around 40-50. IPL gigs pay substantially higher, at Rs 4 lakh a game, but not everyone can make the cut. With increased competition, associations also want to ensure equal opportunities for everyone, which translates into fewer games per umpire.

But for those aspiring to be umpires, money may not necessarily be the deal-breaker.

“The biggest takeaway of becoming an umpire is that you get to see the game from the best seat in the house,” says Kaushik.

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