Until now, the BCCI has never allowed women or given them a chance to officiate as on-field umpires in men’s senior tournaments, but this is going to change soon. Three Indian women–Vrinda Rathi from Mumbai, Janani Narayanan from Chennai and Gayathri Venugopalan–will be making history as umpires for the Ranji Trophy games.
They will start from the second round of the tournament after missing the first leg of games that start next week since they will be officiating in the India-Australia women’s T20I series. The BCCI is expected to come out with an official announcement soon. These women have always been in the cricket space. Rathi was an avid cricket player and an unexpected meeting with New Zealand international umpire Kathy Cross inspired her to follow her passion. Narayanan quit her job when the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) invited applications for umpires and Venugopalan wanted to become a professional cricketer but a shoulder injury forced her to give up her dream. She continued to be on the centre-square after passing the BCCI’s umpiring exam.
Image source: Indian Express