While fellow Indian Anantha Padmanabhan will make his ICC debut starting in India and Sri Lanka on February 7, Elite Panel umpire Nitin Menon will officiate in his fourth T20 World Cup.
Menon, the lone Indian member of the ICC Elite Panel, had previously overseen the T20 World Cup in 2021, 2022, and 2024. J Madanagopal, who will participate in his second T20 showpiece, is the third Indian on the list of match officials that was announced on Friday.
Menon and Sam Nogajski will be in the middle of Scotland’s match against the West Indies in Group C on the first day of the competition.
Menon was on the field for Afghanistan vs South Africa in the first semi-final of the 2024 World Cup, while Nogajski officiated in four group matches the previous time out, including India vs the United States of America.
Menon will officiate in his 150th international match across formats on Saturday, becoming the first Indian to do so. He is currently occupied with the current Twenty20 series between India and New Zealand.
Kumar Dharmasena and Wayne Knights will officiate the match between Pakistan and the Netherlands on February 7 in Sri Lanka.
Dharmasena, an off-spinner who played for Sri Lanka in their 1996 ODI World Cup title winning campaign, has officiated in 37 T20 World Cup matches, including the 2016 and 2022 finals, placing him fourth on the all-time list. New Zealander Knights, in contrast, is in his first T20 World Cup and will hit the landmark of 50 T20ls as on-field umpire in the Group A encounter in Colombo.
The ICC stated that the Super Eight and knockout stage appointments will be confirmed later.
With 46 matches officiated in this competition, Rod Tucker leads the way and will reach his half-century in the competition. The Australian will also oversee the matches between South Africa and the United Arab Emirates, India and Namibia, and England and Nepal.
When Australia and Ireland play in Group B on February 11, Chris Gaffaney and Richard Illingworth, who stood together during the 2024 final, will reunite.
Alongside Dharmasena, Illingworth will be in the center for the marquee match between archrivals India and Pakistan on February 15 in Colombo.
During the group stage, a total of 24 officials—including Richard Kettleborough, Ahsan Raza, Langton Rusere, and Adrian Holdstock—will serve as on-field umpires.
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
