Venkat, Srinath named match referees

Mumbai:

Former ICC Elite Panel umpire and ex-India skipper Srinivas Venkataraghavan, Javagal Srinath and Sri Lanka's Roshan Mahanama were on Wednesday named match referees for the October 8-23 Airtel Champions Twenty20 League to be played in three Indian centres.

India's ICC on-field International Panel umpires Amish Saheba and Shavir Tarapore are in the nine-member umpires panel which would do duty in the USD six million tournament along with compatriot Sanjay Hazare, a media release said today.

Missing from the list of umpires is ICC Elite Panel umpire Simon Taufel, who had won the Best Umpire award of the world governing council for the last five years running.

The other umpires who would be seen in action in the 12-team tournament are: Daryl Harper (Australia), Rudi Koertzen (South Africa), Billy Doctrove (West Indies), Kumar Dharmasena (Sri Lanka), Brian Jerling (SA) and Russell Tiffin (Zimababwe).

"We're thrilled to have appointed some of the world's most experienced and well-respected umpires and match referees to officiate," said CLT20 chairman Lalit Modi.

Matches in the tournament that would see three IPL franchise teams - Deccan Chargers, Royal Challengers and Delhi Daredevils - in the fray would be held at Hyderabad, Bangalore and Delhi.