The absence of Nepal in the country, where Nepal defeated Pakistan and Bangladesh to reach the Plate Championship finals in 2002, will hurt one man standing in the middle more than anybody else -- Nepal´s own cricket umpire Buddhi Bahadur Pradhan.
Pradhan will be making a history for himself completing the hat-trick of officiating at Youth World Cup. He would begin from the most-hyped match of India vs Afghanistan on January 15 which will be broadcast live on ESPNStar.
Before that, Pradhan will officiate two warm-up matches -- Australia Vs West India on January 11 and Hong Kong Vs Canada the next day.
In the last World Cup, as an umpire of the ICC associate and affiliate panel, Pradhan stood in six matches in 2006 YWC and eight in 2008 YWC. His best days at the YWCs include standing with Australian Steve Davis in 2006 and umpiring third-place playoff in 2008.
“I aim to umpire super league matches in New Zealand,” said Pradhan on Thursday, a day before his departure to New Zealand.
Pradhan, the best Nepali umpire, aspires to stand in Test matches preferably along with either Simon Taufel or Aleem Dar. It´s a dream that may remain a dream as Nepal is not a Test-playing nation. “But I believe ICC will be watching our performance, and I have a chance in future,” he said.
Four months ago, Pradhan stood in a dream match during ICC World Cricket League Division 6 in Singapore. He was partnered by his role model -- Taufel.
So far, Pradhan had umpired 12 One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and eight first-class matches and believes he has still a long way ahead.
“We have other good umpires who can outpace me if they get opportunities,” he said adding that he is working to produce new umpires and giving them more opportunities.
But cricket fans know the next umpire to stand taller than him will have put in a lot of hard work and need a bit of luck.
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