The latest edition of the Indian Premier League is set to get underway. India’s premier T20 competition is scheduled to start on April 9, 2021, with a clash between record champions Mumbai Indians and star-studded Royal Challengers Bangalore at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. So ahead of the start of IPL 2021, we take a look at one of the most crucial parts of the tournament, the umpires. IPL 2021: BCCI Scraps ‘Soft Signal’ Rule, Third Umpire Can Fix ‘Short Run’ Error.

Over the years, many great umpires from around the world and India have graced the cash-rich league. The officials play a huge role in the competition as apart from their on-field decisions, they along with the referees also rate the participating teams on the Fair-Play scale. And before the start of IPL 2021, we take a look at the umpires with the most appearances in the history of the competition. Twitterati Confuses Pashchim Pathak to Be a Woman Umpire, Here's Everything to Know About The Indian Cricket Umpire Who Stood in SRH vs KKR, IPL 2020 Match.

Umpires With Most Matches in IPL

Sr No Umpire Nationality First Officiated Last Officiated Matches
1 Sundaram Ravi India 2009 2020 121
2 Kumar Dharmasena Sri Lanka 2009 2018 94
3 Anil Chaudhary India 2012 2020 87
4 Chettithody Shamshuddin India 2012 2020 83
5 Marias Erasmus South Africa 2009 2019 66

Umpires participating in IPL 2021 will have a number of new guidelines to adhere to as the BCCI have changed the ‘soft signal’ rule for the tournament as it will not have any bearing on the decision of the third umpire. The governing body will stick with the ‘Umpire’s Call’ rule despite it coming under scanner.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 07, 2021 05:47 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).