Virat Kohli's Under-19 Teammate Gets Umpiring Job In IPL 2025

Tanmay Srivastava, who was part of the Indian squad alongside Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja and Manish Pandey that won the 2008 Under-19 World Cup in Malaysia, will be seen in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 as an umpire. 

According to a report in the Times of India, Srivastava is all set to make his debut as a BCCI-qualified umpire in the upcoming IPL 2025, starting on March 22 (Saturday). The 35-year-old is set to become the first player to have both played and officiated in the IPL. However, Srivastava, who cleared the Level 2 course, hasn’t been given on-field duties in IPL 2025. 

Srivastava was the leading run-scorer in the 2008 U-19 World Cup, slamming 262 runs in six innings at an average of 52.40. Even in the low-scoring final against South Africa, Srivastava (46) got the most runs in the match.

Thanks to his performance, he made his IPL debut for Kings XI Punjab in 2008 but couldn’t do much in the seven games he played for the franchise across the first two seasons. Srivastava could only score 8 runs in three innings and never played in the IPL after 2009.

He did play for Uttar Pradesh in domestic cricket before shifting to Uttarakhand ahead of the 2019-20 season. At the age of just 30, Srivastava retired from all forms of cricket in 2020 and started preparing for umpiring examinations. 

“I understood that was the best player I could be. I was nowhere close to playing the IPL. I had to decide if I wanted to prolong life as a player or have a longer successful second innings,” he told TOI.

“I am still in touch with Virat, but I had to decide for myself and have a practical outlook. Studying for umpiring is tough. I used to stay up at nights. You have to study a lot to understand the laws and its implications.

“There is certain relaxation for players irrespective of the level of cricket they’ve played. The board is encouraging young players to take up umpiring rather than heavily depending on older people with bookish knowledge.”