Umpires and referees for PSL-5

LAHORE: England’s Richard Illingworth will team up with Faisal Khan Afridi as an on-field umpire for the HBL Pakistan Super League 2020 opening match between defending champions Quetta Gladiators and Islamabad United at the National Stadium on 20 February.

Sri Lanka’s Roshan Mahanama will lead the playing control team for the curtain-raiser that will also include Asif Yaqoob as third umpire and Syed Imtiaz Iqbal as fourth umpire.Illingworth is one of the three foreign umpires who will be involved in the 32-day competition, which will feature 34 matches in Karachi, Lahore, Multan and Rawalpindi.

Sri Lanka’s Ranmore Martinesz will be in action in the third match at the Gaddafi Stadium between Lahore Qalandars and Multan Sultans, while Michael Gough’s first of nine matches will also be at the Gaddafi Stadium on 6 March when Karachi Kings and Multan Sultans will go toe to toe.

Aleem Dar, three-time ICC Umpire of the Year, will also return to the tournament after missing the 2019 event due to his international commitments. Aleem, at this stage, is scheduled to umpire in 10, 11 and 15 March matches at the Gaddafi Stadium.

Aleem will lead a field of 15 umpires who have been selected for the HBL Pakistan Super League 2020. The list includes five new faces in Aslam Bareach, Majid Hussain, Nasir Hussain, Saqib Khan and Syed Imtiaz Iqbal, who will perform fourth umpire responsibilities.

The 10 umpires to share on-field responsibilities in the 30 preliminary round matches are Ahsan Raza, Aleem Dar, Asif Yaqoob, Faisal Khan Afridi, Michael Gough, Rashid Riaz, Richard Illingworth, Shozab Raza, Ranmore Martinesz and Tariq Rasheed.

Besides Roshan Mahanama, Javed Malik, Mohammad Anees and Aziz-ur-Rehman will be the match referees.Appointments for the Qualifier, two Eliminators and 22 March final will be announced in due course.