The first T20I against Pakistan at the Rangiri Dambulla Stadium recently featured three new Sri Lankan cricket umpires. Among them, Ravindra Kottahachi and Chamara de Zoysa will be making their debut as the chief umpires in a One Day International match. Ravindra has previously officiated 10 women’s ODIs and T20Is, while Chamara has officiated one women’s T20I. In addition to these two, Hemantha Botheju, who will be the fourth umpire, will also be officiating in an international match for the first time. Hemantha has played 2 One-Day Internationals for Sri Lanka.
Ravindra Kottahachi, who started his umpire career as a first-class umpire in Sri Lanka in 2006, is currently a member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Umpires Panel. The 50-year-old has previously officiated in 7 Women’s One-Day Internationals and 3 Women’s Twenty20 Internationals. The youngest of four brothers involved in first-class cricket in Sri Lanka, Ravindra Kottahachi’s three brothers are also first-class umpires. He has officiated 146 first-class matches so far, 113 T20Is, 12 Youth ODIs and one Youth Test.
Chamara de Zoysa, who umpires at the other end with him, represented Sri Lanka in first-class cricket from 1994 to 2012. He is a skilled all-rounder who has played 106 first-class domestic matches in the country, scoring 3544 runs and taking 136 wickets. He also won the award for the best domestic cricket umpire at the Sri Lanka Cricket Annual Awards held in 2024.
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