Nitin Menon lone Indian umpire in T20 World Cup 2021

The ICC have announced 20 match officials for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2021, starting October 17 in Oman and UAE. Nitin Menon is the only Indian named among the umpires for the tournament, while the all-important India-Pakistan tie will be officiated by Marais Erasmus and Chris Gaffaney.

Aleem Dar, Erasmus and Rod Tucker will be officiating in their sixth Men's T20 World Cup. Also, former India pacer Javagal Srinath will be one of four match referees in the mega event. The match officials for the semi-finals and final will be announced in due course. 

The ICC said a 20-strong group of match officials meant that for the first time since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, there will be neutral umpires for all matches of the tournament,

Sri Lanka's Kumar Dharmasena, who was one of the on-field umpires for the final of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2019, will be in the middle for the first match of the tournament, when Oman take on Papua New Guinea, alongside New Zealander Chris Gaffaney.

Another Sri Lankan, the vastly experienced Ranjan Madugalle, will be the match referee, with Richard Kettleborough the TV umpire and Ahsan Raza the fourth official. Dar and Erasmus have been selected for the Super 12 clash between England and the West Indies, a rematch of the last ICC Men's T20 World Cup final back in 2016, with Australian great David Boon the match referee for that encounter and Chris Brown, appearing in his first ICC Men's T20 World Cup, on TV duty.

Adrian Griffith, ICC Senior Manager Umpires and Referees, said: "We are delighted to be able to call on some of the world's top officials for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup with a group of 16 umpires and four match referees.

"Our aim is always to appoint the best possible officials, and we have also been able to appoint neutral umpires and referees in all matches. We wish them all the very best, and we are confident they will ensure the smooth conduct of matches."

Match Referees 

David Boon, Jeff Crowe, Ranjan Madugalle, Javagal Srinath.

Umpires

Chris Brown, Aleem Dar, Kumar Dharmasena, Marais Erasmus, Chris Gaffaney, Michael Gough, Adrian Holdstock, Richard Illingworth, Richard Kettleborough, Nitin Menon, Ahsan Raza, Paul Reiffel, Langton Rusere, Rod Tucker, Joel Wilson, Paul Wilson.

Gender-neutral term from T20 World Cup

The ICC has decided to replace 'batsman' with gender-neutral term 'batter' in all its playing conditions starting with this month's men's T20 World Cup, describing the move as a "natural and overdue evolution" in the sport.

Last month, the Marylebone Cricket Club announced it would be replacing the word 'batsman' with 'batter' in the Laws of Cricket. That change will now be reflected across all ICC playing conditions going forward.

The ICC said over the past four years it has been moving away from the word 'batsman', with 'batter' implemented regularly in commentary and across the organisation's channels.

(With inputs from PTI)