A total of 17 umpires and four match referees from the ICC International Panels of Umpires and Referees have been appointed for the upcoming ICC Men’s Under-19 Cricket World Cup. Indian Umpire Virender Sharma is also included in the list of umpires.
Under-19 world cup 2026 will be held in Zimbabwe and Namibia in early 2026. It will be the sixteenth edition of the Under-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup.
The tournament starts on 15 January, with the semi-finals on 3 and 4 February, and the final on 6 February. India will be starting their world cup campaign on the opening day of the tournament against United States of America in Bulawayo.
The match officials to oversee the ICC Men’s #U19WorldCup 2026 have been revealed 👇https://t.co/eJCIqLtqof
— ICC (@ICC) January 8, 2026
Who is Virender Sharma
Virender Sharma played 50 first-class matches and 40 List A matches for Himachal Pradesh between 1990 and 2006.
In November 2016, during a Ranji Trophy match between Mumbai and Uttar Pradesh, Sharma was forced to stand at both ends for the entire second day after the other umpire, Sam Nogajski, fell ill with food poisoning. The reserve umpire at the venue was not a member of the BCCI panel, so he could only stand at square leg.
In January 2021, the International Cricket Council (ICC) appointed him as one of the on-field umpires for the second Test match between India and England. On 13 February 2021, he officiated in his first Test match as an on-field umpire during the India–England series.
Indian Referee also included in the list
ICC also includes the Indian Referee Prakash Bhatt into the match officials panel for the ICC U-19 cricket world cup 2026.
Prakash Bhatt is a former domestic player who played the 51 first class games for Saurashtra from 1994 to 2004.
He was a middle order batter averaging 39.29 in domestic cricket.
Match officials for the ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup 2026
Umpires:
Ahmad Shah Durrani (Afghanistan), Aidan Seaver (Ireland), Cory Black (New Zealand), Deighton Butler (West Indies), Faisal Afridi (Pakistan), Forster Mutizwa (Zimbabwe), Graham Lloyd (England), Iknow Chabi (Zimbabwe), Lubabalo Gcuma (South Africa), Masudur Mukul (Bangladesh), Nitin Bathi (Netherlands), Prageeth Rambukwella (Sri Lanka), Russell Warren (England), Shaun Haig (New Zealand), Shawn Craig (Australia), Virender Sharma (India), Zahid Bassarath (West Indies).
Referees:
Dean Cosker (England), Graeme La Brooy (Sri Lanka), Neeyamur Rahul (Bangladesh), Prakash Bhatt (India).
