Former Kerala skipper K N Ananthapadmanabhan has made it to the International Cricket Council (ICC) International Panel International Panel of Umpires. He passed the umpiring test in 2006 and has been officiating in first-class matches since 2008
Fondly called Ananthan, he is the fourth Indian umpire in the current international panel after C Shamshuddin, Anil Chaudhary and Virender Sharma while Nitin Menon is the lone Indian in the ICC Elite Panel of Umpires. Only three umpires from Kerala – Jose Kurishinkal, Dr K N Raghavan and S Dendapani – have so far officiated in international matches.
Ananthan, who played 105 first-class matches, was a highly-rated leg-spinner at the domestic level. However, his playing career ran parallel to that of leg-spin legend Anil Kumble and Ananthan failed to realise his dream of wearing Indian colours.
Determined to give something back to the sport Ananthan turned to umpiring. He said he was happy to have been included in the international panel. He had been an on-field umpire in the IPL (Indian Premier League) for the past four seasons. And he stood in the finals of Ranji Trophy, Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 and Vijay Hazare Trophy one-day championships last season. He hoped that officiating in the high-pressure IPL from 2016 will stand him in good stead.
Ananthan was in the spotlight earlier this year when he stood from both ends during the second day of the Ranji Trophy final between Saurashtra and Bengal after his colleague Shamshuddin suffered an injury.
