NAVI MUMBAI: The India’s women’s team’s first home Test in nine years has turned out to be special for Vrinda Ghanshyam Rathi. On Thursday, Day 1 of the one-off Test between India and England at the DY Patil Stadium here, Vrinda Rathimade history it into Indian women’s cricket’s history books became India’s first woman Test umpire when he stood in the middle.That she made her umpiring Test debut in Navi Mumbai, a city in which she was born, must have made the occasion more special for Rathi.
In 2014, Rathi cleared the umpires exam, conducted by the Mumbai Cricket Associationand four years later, passed the umpires’ exam conducted by the Board of Control for Cricket in India in 2018. Since, then, the 34-year-old, who has officiated in 13 WODIs and 43 WT20Is, has gone on from strength to strength.
IN 2020, she was promoted to the ICC Development Panel of Umpires in 2020. In 2022, Rathi stood in the Commonwealth Games at Birmingham in United Kingdom.
This year has seen making one umpiring record after another. On 10 January 2023, she along with Narayanan Janani became the first woman umpires to stand as an on-field umpire in a men’s domestic fixture in India, as the pair stood in the match between Goa and Pondicherry in the 2022-23 season of the Ranji Trophy.
In 2023, Rathi officiated in the Women’s T20 World Cup in South Africa, stood in the final match of the first ever Women’s Premier League and also officiated in the Asian Games at Hangzhou in China. Rathi also stood in the recently-held T20I series between India and England at the Wankhede Stadium.
This Test versus England, in fact, involves an all-Indian ‘umpiring show.’ Besides Rathi, the other on-field umpire is KN Ananthapadmanabhan. Virender Sharma is the third umpire, while GS Lakshmi is the match referee.
In 2014, Rathi cleared the umpires exam, conducted by the Mumbai Cricket Associationand four years later, passed the umpires’ exam conducted by the Board of Control for Cricket in India in 2018. Since, then, the 34-year-old, who has officiated in 13 WODIs and 43 WT20Is, has gone on from strength to strength.
IN 2020, she was promoted to the ICC Development Panel of Umpires in 2020. In 2022, Rathi stood in the Commonwealth Games at Birmingham in United Kingdom.
This year has seen making one umpiring record after another. On 10 January 2023, she along with Narayanan Janani became the first woman umpires to stand as an on-field umpire in a men’s domestic fixture in India, as the pair stood in the match between Goa and Pondicherry in the 2022-23 season of the Ranji Trophy.
In 2023, Rathi officiated in the Women’s T20 World Cup in South Africa, stood in the final match of the first ever Women’s Premier League and also officiated in the Asian Games at Hangzhou in China. Rathi also stood in the recently-held T20I series between India and England at the Wankhede Stadium.
This Test versus England, in fact, involves an all-Indian ‘umpiring show.’ Besides Rathi, the other on-field umpire is KN Ananthapadmanabhan. Virender Sharma is the third umpire, while GS Lakshmi is the match referee.