Narayanankutty in ICC referees panel

KOCHI: Former Kerala cricketer

V Narayanankutty

has been inducted into the

ICC international panel of match referees

. The first person from Kerala to be part of the international panel, Narayanankutty, 51, has been in the BCCI panel of match referees from 2006-07 and has officiated in more than 150 matches which include 45 first-class, 34 List A and 12 IPL games and various age-group matches.


Narayanankutty will be joining former Delhi player Manu Nayyar as the second Indian in the current international panel of referees, which is the second tier of ICC match referees below the elite panel. While the elite panel referees take charge of all men's Tests, ODIs and T20Is, Narayanankutty and other international panel referees will officiate in 'A' team tours, associate matches and women's internationals.

Narayanankutty played 42 first-class games for Kerala from 1987-88 to 1995-96. An attacking top-order batsman, he scored 1793 runs with three centuries. He hails from Kozhikode and is currently working as income tax officer in Thiruvananthapuram.

"I'm thankful for the recognition of the good work done by me over the years. This is a new challenge and I promise to do it to the best of my ability," said Narayanankutty. "I have to undergo an induction programme which lasts for about four months and need to work with elite panel referees for a few matches before I get to officiate international matches," he added.