KN Ananthapadmanabhan is a name synonymous to first-class cricket in Kerala. He was part of the Kerala team from 1988 to 2004 where he played 105 first-class games picking up 344 wickets and scoring 2,891 runs. He has now been welcomed into the International Cricket Council (ICC) elite panel; making him the first Malayali to be part of it. The ICC elite panel is a group of senior umpires that the council handpicks and recognises, to officiate over all Test matches, One Day Internationals (ODIs), and T20 matches.
Anantha was welcomed into the ICC umpires panel in 2006, from where he has grown. Now, along with his colleague Nitin Menon, he has been inducted into the ICC elite panel. There are now three Indians who are part of the panel, with the third person being Javagal Srinath, one of India’s finest bowlers who turned match referee.
Between 2009 to 2018 Anantha had officiated 61 T20 games, 27 A-list matches and 105 first-class matches. Officiating over 195 games including 40 Ranji Trophy matches, he has established himself as one of the best umpires that India has produced. He was first included in the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2016 where he emerged as one of the best on field umpires of the season.
The original eight panel members were Steve Bucknor, Daryl Harper, Ashoka de Silva, Srinivas Venkataraghavan, Rudi Koertzen, Dave Orchard, David Shepherd, and Russell Tiffin. Sundaram Ravi was also a part of the previous ICC elite panels.
The Kerala Cricket Association has congratulated him on this milestone achievement.
“We are very happy to announce that K N Ananthapadmanabhan has been elevated to the "Emirates ICC International Panel of Umpires". A recognition of hard work and perseverance,” the association said in a statement.
Governments across the world had ordered for all sports activities to stop earlier this year amid the COVID-19 pandemic. However, with the pandemic gradually coming under control and the development of several vaccines in progress, some governments are considering restarting sporting events without an audience.