Even though the Bangladesh team will not be participating, two Bangladeshi umpires will officiate at the T20 World Cup to be held in India and Sri Lanka. They are Sharfuddoula Ibne Shahid Saikat and Gazi Sohel.
On Friday (30 January), the ICC released the list of umpires for the T20 World Cup. The names of these two Bangladeshi umpires are included in the match officials’ panel.
The ICC has announced the umpires’ list only for the group stage of the World Cup. A total of six match referees and 24 umpires have been finalized for the group stage. The list of umpires for the Super Eight and knockout stages will be announced later by the ICC.
Former left-arm spinner Sharfuddoula has so far officiated in 75 T20 matches. Among them, he has served as an on-field umpire in 54 matches and as a TV umpire in 21 matches.
Gazi Sohel has officiated in a total of 59 T20 matches as an on-field umpire. Of these, he worked as an on-field umpire in 40 matches and as a TV umpire in 19 matches.
The World Cup will begin with the Pakistan vs Netherlands match on 7 February. The opening match will be officiated by Sri Lanka’s Kumar Dharmasena and New Zealand’s Wayne Knights.
Bangladesh refused to play in India, citing security concerns. Although the BCB applied for a change of venue from India due to safety issues, the ICC ignored the request and excluded Bangladesh from the World Cup. Scotland has been included in place of Bangladesh by the ICC, which is led by India’s Jay Shah.
Match Officials at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026
Match Referees
Dean Cosker, David Gilbert, Ranjan Madugalle, Andrew Pycroft, Richie Richardson and Javagal Srinath.
Umpires
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 Reifer, Paul Reiffel, Langton Rusere, Sharfuddoula Ibne Shahid, Gazi Sohel, Rodney Tucker, Alex Wharf, Raveendra Wimalasiri and Asif Yaqoob.
