Tanmay Srivastava will be donning a new rule as the umpire in the 2025 edition of the IPL. A former cricketer and a teammate of Virat Kohli in the U19 World Cup-winning team, Srivastava has been a regular umpire in domestic cricket and has also been a certified Level-2 coach by the BCCI and will be making his debut officiating in the IPL.
The Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA) congratulated Srivastava on the feat. "A true player never leaves the field—just changes the game. Wishing Tanmay Srivastava the best as he dons a new hat with the same passion!” UPCA wrote on social media.
It will be a level-up for the 35-year-old from domestic cricket officiating in the IPL with so many eyeballs, hence under heavy scrutiny from all sides. Srivastava, after retiring from professional cricket at the age of 30 straightaway got into getting himself enrolled into coaching and officiating in domestic cricket.
Srivastava has also played in the IPL for a couple of seasons for the then Kings XI Punjab in 2008 and 2009 but only got to bat in three innings and scored just eight runs. Srivastava's rise to fame was the Under19 World Cup where he was the top-scorer in a team comprising Virat Kohli, Manish Pandey, Taruwar Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja. Srivastava scored 46 off 74 in the final where the whole Indian batting line-up could muster a total of 159 runs before South Africa fell short by 12 runs in a rain-affected finale.
His IPL experience may be limited, however, Srivastava had a sizeable career in first-class cricket scoring 4,918 runs in 90 red-ball matches.
The 2025 edition of the IPL begins Saturday, March 22 with the defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) taking on the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the opener at the Eden Gardens.