Umpire S. Ravi retained in ICC elite panel, Shamshuddin elevated

Indian umpire Sundaram Ravi was on Tuesday retained in the International Cricket Council (ICC) elite panel for his impressive track record, according to bcci.tv.

Another Indian C. Shamshuddin has been elevated to the emerging panel of umpires for the upcoming season.

Ravi has officiated in 11 Test matches, including the first ever day-night Test between Australia and New Zealand at the Adelaide Oval last year. Since making his debut in a T20 international between India and England in October 2011, he has also officiated in 26 ODIs and 18 T20Is.

Shamshuddin, who was elevated to the ICC's ODI emerging panel, has already officiated in seven ODIs and 10 T20I matches. The 46-year-old was selected to officiate in ICC events including the ICC Under-19 World Cup.

"The elevation of Shamshuddin and retention of Ravi to the elite panel is a testament to BCCI's focussed efforts towards raising the standard of umpiring in India and creating a bigger pool of match officials. The exposure as a field umpire in Indian Premier League (IPL) has helped the Indian umpires," the BCCI said in a statement.

"The BCCI regularly conducts workshops for umpires and these workshops are to train the umpires in dealing with suspect action, use of technology as a TV umpire, laws of cricket and playing conditions. The BCCI National Academy of Umpires in Nagpur is fully equipped for training courses.

"Since last year, we started English speaking courses for our umpires to improve their communication skills and the course is being conducted by experts from British Council. Simon Taufel has been used as the resource for the workshops," the board added.

--IANS

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