India umpire Saheba to officiate in three ODIs

NEW DELHI: India's Amiesh Saheba will officiate in three one-day internationals (ODIs) in Ireland next week, an indication that the International Cricket Council (ICC) is keen to give him maximum exposure.

Saheba, 47, will officiate in the West Indies-Netherlands match July 10, the West Indies-Scotland encounter July 12 and the Ireland-West Indies ODI July 14, the ICC has announced. All matches will be played in Dublin.

Saheba, part of the ICC's International Panel of Umpires, has already officiated in nine ODIs.

Besides Saheba, Suresh Shastri and G.A. Pratapkumar are the other Indians in the international panel. No Indian figures in the Elite Panel.

ICC also announced that Simon Taufel (Australia), Steve Bucknor (West Indies) and Ian Howell (South Africa) will officiate in India's three-match Test series against England beginning July 19 at Lord's.

Billy Doctrove of the West Indies and Aleem Dar of Pakistan will be the neutral umpires in the seven ODIs between India and England starting Aug 21. Doctrove will officiate in the first three and Dar will stand in the rest of the matches.

One local umpire, to be nominated by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), will partner Doctrove and Dar in the ODIs.

Former Sri Lanka Test player Ranjan Madugalle will be the match referee for the Test series and the lone ODI against Scotland while his compatriot Roshan Mahanama will be in charge of the India-England ODIs.

Umpires' and match referees' postings:

India-England Test series:

July 19-23: 1st Test at Lord's: Simon Taufel (Australia) and Steve Bucknor (West Indies)

July 27-31: 2nd Test at Trent Bridge, Nottingham: Taufel and Ian Howell (South Africa)

Aug 9-13: 3rd Test at Kennington Oval, London: Bucknor and Howell

Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (Sri Lanka)

India-Scotland:

Aug 16: Only ODI in Glasgow, Scotland: Howell and Ian Gould (England)

Match referee: Madugalle

India-England ODI series:

Aug 21: 1st ODI at Rose Bowl, Southampton: Billy Doctrove (West Indies)

Aug 24: 2nd ODI at Bristol: Doctrove

Aug 27: 3rd ODI at Edgbaston, Birmingham: Doctrove

Aug 30: 4th ODI at Old Trafford, Manchester: Aleem Dar (Pakistan)

Sep 2: 5th ODI at Headingley, Leeds: Dar

Sep 5: 6th ODI at Kennington Oval, London: Dar

Sep 8: 7th ODI at Lord's: Dar

Match referee: Roshan Mahanama (Sri Lanka)