Sunday Feb 22, 2026
Sunday Feb 22, 2026
Saturday, 31 January 2026 01:56 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
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| Ranjan Madugalle |
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| Kumar Dharmasena |
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| Ravindra Wimalasiri |
Kumar Dharmasena and Wayne Knights will be the on-field umpires for the opening match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 between Pakistan and the Netherlands to be played at the Sinhalese Sports Club ground on 7 February.
Dharmasena, an off-spinner who was a member of the Sri Lankan team that won the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup in 1996, has overseen 37 matches at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup including the finals of 2016 and 2022, putting him fourth on the all-time list.
New Zealander Knights, in contrast, is at his first ICC Men’s T20 World Cup and will reach the landmark of 50 T20Is as on-field umpire in the Group A match in Colombo.
Dharmasena is also down to officiate the crunch clash between rivals India and Pakistan at the R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo on 15 February with England’s Richard Illingworth.
Apart from Dharmasena, Ravindra Wimalasiri also appears in the panel of umpires who will officiate in the World Cup.
Former Sri Lanka captain Ranjan Madugalle heads the six-member match referees panel for the World Cup
In all, 24 officials will be on-field umpires during the group stage, with Richard Kettleborough, Ahsan Raza, Langton Rusere and Adrian Holdstock among the other returnees.
The complete match-day appointments for the group stage of the 20-team tournament were announced yesterday while the appointments for the Super Eight and knockout stages will be confirmed in due course.
MATCH OFFICIALS AT THE ICC MEN’S T20 WORLD CUP 2026
Match Referees: Dean Cosker, David Gilbert, Ranjan Madugalle, Andrew Pycroft, Richie Richardson and Javagal Srinath.
Umpires: Roland Black, Chris Brown, Kumar Dharmasena, Chris Gaffaney, Adrian Holdstock, Richard Illingworth, Richard Kettleborough, Wayne Knights, Donovan Koch, Jayaraman Madanagopal, Nitin Menon, Sam Nogajski, KNA Padmanabhan, Allahuddien Paleker, Ahsan Raza, Leslie Reifer, Paul Reiffel, Langton Rusere, Sharfuddoula Ibne Shahid, Gazi Sohel, Rodney Tucker, Alex Wharf, Raveendra Wimalasiri and Asif Yaqoob.
