Women umpires Rathi, Narayanan andVenugopalan make Ranji Trophy debut

New Delhi: A former scorer, an ex-software engineer and a player, whose career was cut short by injury, scripted history on Tuesday as Vrinda Rathi, Janani Narayanan and Gayathri Venugopalan became the first female trio to officiate in the prestigious Ranji Trophy.
Venugopal is officiating in the second round match between Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh in Jamshedpur while Narayanan and Rathi are umpiring in the Railways versus Tripura game in Surat and Goa versus Pondicherry clash at Porvorim respectively.Hailing from various backgrounds, the trio, already well-respected on the women’s circuit, became pioneers courtesy BCCI’s decision to draft women umpires on the men’s domestic circuit. The three pioneers will now officiate on-field in Ranji Trophy matches this season with the Indian board deciding to draft women umpires in the men’s domestic circuit.
“Going ahead, women umpires will be getting to do Ranji Trophy games. This is just a start. The BCCI has decided to give them the opportunity in the men’s game, too,” a BCCI official said.Rathi, Narayanan and Venugopalan will start from Round 2 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.
Many state associations do draft women to officiate in men’s games locally, apart from women’s cricket. But until now, the BCCI had never given women an opportunity to officiate as on-field umpires in men’s senior tournaments.Indian board-contracted umpires aren’t allowed to interact with the media but regulars on the circuit say they are aware about the three women who are about to make history.
Mumbai’s Rathi, 32, was a medium pacer and had represented Mumbai University. She was a regular scorer in local matches in Mumbai and in 2010, cleared the BCCI exams for scorers. In 2013, she was the official BCCI scorer for the women’s World Cup, when she came across the New Zealand umpire. She cleared the Mumbai Cricket Association exams and subsequently, the BCCI test.