India's Shamshuddin to officiate at Under-19 World Cup opener

Dubai, 15 January : India's Chettithody Shamshuddin alongside Tim Robinson will officiate as the on-field umpires for the opening match of the Under-19 cricket World Cup to be played between hosts Bangladesh and defending champions South Africa at the Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium (ZACS) in Chittagong on January 27.

Phillip Jones will be the TV umpire while Graeme La Brooy will be the match referee, announced the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Friday for the tournament that will end on February 14.

Andy Pycroft of the Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees along with Devdas Govindjee and Graeme La Brooy from the Regional Referees Panel will be the referees of the tournament. The on-field umpires will be drawn from the International Panel of Umpires and the Associate and Affiliate Panel of International Umpires.

International panel umpires include Ahmad Shahab, Ahsan Raza, Anisur Rahman, Gregory Brathwaite, Shamshuddin, Enamul Hoque Moni, Robert Bailey, Nigel Duguid, Adrian Holdstock, Mick Martell, Jeremiah Matibiri, Phillip Jones, Tim Robinson, Ruchira Palliyaguruge, Langton Rusere, Raveendra Wimalasiri and Sharfuddoula Ibne Shahid.

The only umpire from the Associate and Affiliate panel is Ian Ramage.

On the opening day at the M.A. Aziz Stadium in Chittagong, England will take on Fiji fo which the on-field umpires will be Raza and Martell with Govindjee as the match referee.

"The panel represents an outstanding cross-section of international officials who are among the most experienced currently standing in international cricket. The players will benefit from the calibre of the match officials, with the game's best young talent exposed to umpiring and refereeing of a high international standard," ICC Senior Manager - Umpires and Referee Adrian Griffith said.

The 11th edition of the tournament will be held across eight venues in four Bangladesh cities and will feature nine Test playing countries as well as seven Associate and Affiliate Members, namely Afghanistan, Canada, Fiji, Ireland, Namibia, Nepal and Scotland.

The warm-up matches will be played from January 22 to 25.