Sharfuddoula Ibne Shahid Saikat () (born 16 October 1976), also known as Sharfuddoula Saikat, is an international

cricket umpire In cricket, an umpire (from the Old French meaning not a peer, i.e. not a member of one of the teams, impartial) is a person who has the authority to make decisions about events on the cricket field according to the ''Laws of Cricket''. Besides ...

and a former first-class player from

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

. He is the first Bangladeshi umpire to be included in the

Elite Panel of ICC Umpires The Elite Panel of ICC Umpires is a panel of cricket umpires appointed by the International Cricket Council to officiate in Test matches and One Day Internationals around the world. The panel was first established in April 2002 when the ICC de ...

in March 2024. He also officiated in 100 matches in men's international cricket including

ICC Men's Cricket World Cup The ICC Men's Cricket World Cup is a quadrennial world cup for cricket in One Day International (ODI) format, organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). The tournament is one of the world's most viewed sporting events and conside ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

Early life and playing career

Saikat was a student of

Rajshahi University School The University of Rajshahi (), also known as Rajshahi University (RU), is a public research university located in Rajshahi, Bangladesh. It is the second oldest and third largest university in Bangladesh. The university's 59 departments are or ...

. He completed his

honours Honour (Commonwealth English) or honor (American English; see spelling differences) is a quality of a person that is of both social teaching and personal ethos, that manifests itself as a code of conduct, and has various elements such as valo ...

and masters in

International relations International relations (IR, and also referred to as international studies, international politics, or international affairs) is an academic discipline. In a broader sense, the study of IR, in addition to multilateral relations, concerns al ...

from

Dhaka University The University of Dhaka (), also known as Dhaka University (DU), is a public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Established in 1921, it is the oldest active university in the country. The University of Dhaka was founded in 1921 ...

and later earned an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

major in Marketing and in

Human resource management Human resource management (HRM) is the strategic and coherent approach to the effective and efficient management of people in a company or organization such that they help their business gain a competitive advantage. It is designed to maximize e ...

from AIUB. In 1994 Sharfuddoula played three matches for

at the

1994 ICC Trophy The 1994 ICC Trophy (formally the ABN AMRO ICC Trophy) was a cricket tournament that took place in Kenya between 12 February and 6 March 1994. It was the fifth ICC Trophy tournament to be staged, and acted as the Cricket World Cup qualification ...

in Kenya. Sharfuddoula also played 10

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

matches for Dhaka Metropolis in 2000 and 2001.

Umpiring career

He made his first-class umpiring debut in February 2007 in a match between Barisal Division and

Sylhet Division Sylhet Division () is a northeastern Divisions of Bangladesh, division of Bangladesh, renowned for its lush tea gardens, rolling hills and vibrant cultural heritage. Covering an area of approximately 12,298 square kilometres, it is bordered by t ...

. In January 2010, he stood in his first ODI match between

and

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

, becoming the tenth Bangladeshi to umpire at international level. He was one of the match officials for

2018 Cricket World Cup Qualifier The 2018 ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier was a cricket tournament that took place during March 2018 in Zimbabwe. It formed the final part of the Cricket World Cup qualification process for the 2019 World Cup in England and Wales. The top two t ...

in Zimbabwe. He was one of the twelve on-field umpires for the

2018 ICC Women's World Twenty20 The 2018 Women's World Twenty20 was the sixth edition of the Women's World Twenty20, hosted in the West Indies from 9 to 24 November 2018. It the second World Twenty20 hosted by the West Indies (after the 2010 edition), and the West Indies wer ...

. In October 2019, he was appointed as one of the twelve umpires to officiate matches in the

2019 ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier The 2019 ICC Men's T20 World Cup Qualifier was a cricket tournament held during October and November 2019 in the United Arab Emirates to determine the teams that would qualify for the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup tournament. The six teams finis ...

in the United Arab Emirates. In January 2020, he was named as one of the sixteen umpires for the

2020 Under-19 Cricket World Cup The 2020 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup was an international limited-overs cricket tournament that was held in South Africa from 17 January to 9 February 2020. It was the thirteenth edition of the Under-19 Cricket World Cup, and the second to be ...

in South Africa. In February 2021, he was named as an on-field umpire for both the test matches played between Bangladesh and West Indies, becoming the fifth Bangladeshi umpires to officiate in test matches. In February 2022, he was named one of the on-field umpires for the

2022 Women's Cricket World Cup The 2022 ICC Women's Cricket World Cup was the twelfth edition of the Women's Cricket World Cup, which was held in New Zealand in March and April 2022. It was originally scheduled for 6 February to 7 March 2021 but was postponed by one year due ...

in New Zealand. In January 2023, he was named one of the on-field umpires for the 2023 ICC Under-19 Women's T20 World Cup. In March 2023, during the 3rd T20I between Bangladesh and Ireland, he became the first Bangladeshi umpire to officiate in 100 men's international matches. In September 2023, he was named as one of the sixteen match officials for

2023 Cricket World Cup The 2023 ICC Men's Cricket World Cup was the 13th edition of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup, a quadrennial One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament organized by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was hosted from 5 October to 19 ...

, becoming the first Bangladeshi umpire to be named as one of the umpires for the Men's World Cup. He was selected to stand in 5 matches as an on-field umpire in the World Cup including a group stage match between Australia and New Zealand. In January 2024, he became the second Bangladeshi umpire, after Enamul Haque Moni, to officiate a Test match as a neutral umpire outside Bangladesh, being named as an on-field umpire for the 2nd Test between Australia and West Indies. On 28 March 2024, following the International Cricket Council’s annual review and selection process, he became the first Bangladeshi umpire to be included in the

. He replaced South African umpire

Marais Erasmus Marais Erasmus (born 27 February 1964) is a South African former first-class cricketer who is currently serving as an international cricket umpire. He was a member of the Elite Panel of ICC Umpires and stands in matches in all three formats ...

who retired from umpiring in international cricket in February 2024. In May 2024, he was named one of the twenty umpires to officiate matches in the

2024 Men's T20 World Cup The 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup was the ninth edition of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup, co-hosted by Cricket West Indies and USA Cricket from 1 to 29 June 2024. It was the first major International Cricket Council, ICC tournament to include ...

. In December 2024, during the 4th Test of Border–Gavaskar Trophy, one of his decisions as the

Third umpire The third umpire (or TV Umpire) is an off- field umpire used in some cricket matches, particularly international matches. Their role is to make the final decision in questions referred to them by the two on-field umpires or the players. The ...

created a controversy when he gave his decision relying on visual evidence instead of going with technological evidence. However, His decision was praised and backed by several cricket experts including

Simon Taufel Simon James Arthur Taufel (born 21 January 1971) is an Australian former cricket umpire who was earlier a member of the ICC Elite umpire panel. He won five consecutive ICC Umpire of the Year awards between 2004 and 2008, and is widely regard ...

Ricky Ponting Ricky Thomas Ponting (born 19 December 1974) is an Australian cricket coach, commentator, and former player. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen of all time and is the most successful captain in international cricket history, ...

Ravi Shastri Ravishankar Jayadritha Shastri (born 27 May 1962) is an Indian cricket commentator, former professional cricketer and head coach of the India national cricket team. As a player, he played for the India national cricket team between 1981 and 199 ...

Michael Vaughan Michael Paul Vaughan (born 29 October 1974) is an English cricket commentator and former cricketer who played all forms of the game. He served as England cricket captain, England captain for the England test team, test team from 2003 to 2008 ...

and

Rohit Sharma Rohit Sharma (born 30 April 1987) is an Indian Cricket, international cricketer and the Captain (cricket), captain of the India national cricket team, national team in One Day International, ODIs. He is also a former captain in Tests and T20 ...

, the captain of

Indian cricket team The India men's national cricket team, also known as Men in Blue, represents India in international cricket. It is governed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India and is a full member nation of the International Cricket Council with T ...

. In February 2025, he was named one of the match officials for

2025 ICC Champions Trophy The 2025 ICC Champions Trophy was the ninth edition of the ICC Champions Trophy. It was hosted by Pakistan Cricket Board from 19 February to 9 March 2025 and featured 15 matches held across three venues in Pakistan and one in the United Arab E ...

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 1976 births Living people Bangladeshi Test cricket umpires Bangladeshi One Day International cricket umpires Bangladeshi Twenty20 International cricket umpires Bangladeshi cricketers Dhaka Metropolis cricketers Cricketers from Dhaka American International University-Bangladesh alumni University of Dhaka alumni

Early life and playing career

Umpiring career

See also

References

External links