Seasoned referee Madugalle to make HBL PSL debut

KARACHI: ICC’s chief match referee Ranjan Madugalle will make his HBL Pakistan Super League debut when he will referee in the seventh edition of the PCB’s marquee event, which will be held in Karachi and Lahore from January 27 to February 27.

Madugalle played 21 Tests and 63 ODIs for Sri Lanka from 1979 to 1988 and has refereed in 125 Twenty20 Internationals. This is in addition to the 201 Tests and 370 ODIs he has refereed since joining the ICC’s elite panel of match referees in 1993.

Madugalle has been a regular visitor to Pakistan for international assignments, with his last visit being in January 2020 for the three T20Is against Bangladesh.

Madugalle’s first match in the tournament will be the high-profile one between Karachi Kings and Lahore Qalandars, which will be held in Karachi on Sunday, January 30. For this match, Madugalle will lead the Playing Control Team, which will comprise Richard Illingworth and Michael Gough (both on-field umpires), Faisal Afridi (third umpire) and Imran Jawed (fourth umpire).

Madugalle will be involved in nine of the 30 preliminary round matches and his presence is expected to help and assist Pakistan’s emerging umpires and match referees.

Madugalle will be joined by his former team-mate Roshan Mahanama, who has previously refereed in the HBL PSL.

Mahanama will also referee in nine matches, including the January 27 tournament opener between Karachi Kings and Multan Sultans. Aleem Dar and Richard Illingworth will be the on-field umpires, while Ahsan Raza will be the third umpire and Imran Jawed as fourth umpire.

The other three event match referees will be Ali Naqvi, Iftikhar Ahmed and Mohammad Javed Malik from the PCB’s elite panel of match referees.

The umpires are Aleem Dar, Michael Gough, Richard Illingworth, Ahsan Raza, Asif Yaqoob, Faisal Khan Afridi, Imtiaz Iqbal, Imran Jawed, Nasir Hussain, Rashid Riaz, Shozab Raza and Waleed Yaqub.