Umpire Ravi breaks the elite barrier for India

NEW DELHI: In a development which could break the shackles for Indian umpires, Sundaram Ravi has made it to the ICC's elite panel, 11 years after S Venkatraghavan, India's last representative in the panel, retired from international umpiring.
On Thursday, Billy Bowden and the retiring Steve Davis made way for the 49-year-old from Chennai and NZ's Chris Gaffaney in the panel.
Fresh from officiating in the two-Test England-NZ series in England which was 'different and challenging', a proud Ravi told TOI, "This shows that Indian umpires can work on the world stage."
He admits that reaching the ultimate level for umpires was a distant thought when he began doing the job back in 1999. Having suffered from lack of exposure and guidance, Ravi feels the IPL came at the right time to instill belief in domestic umpires.
"We must thank the BCCI for giving us so many opportunities in a high-voltage tournament like the IPL which has helped Indian umpires improve over the last six-seven years. I can't speak for all of us, but I believe Indian umpires are no more in awe of the international players," It's the working relationship that the Indian umpires have been able to develop with the international cricket community that has made them more assured of their job. "Now when I stand in an international match, I know most of the players. I can feel their pulse. Our umpires are more used to the international atmosphere because most of these officials and players have already shared views and feedbacks during the IPL," Ravi points out.
While Venkatraghavan has been reviewing the performance of the domestic umpires for the BCCI, Ravi says who couldn't get the opportunity to interact with him.
"Unfortunately, I haven't had much of an interaction with him as he stays in US with his family for most of the year." Thankfully, Simon Taufel was around to offer advice: "Be a good human being to be a good umpire."
The best thing about Taufel, Ravi says, is that he has never imposed his own methods on others. "He used to work very hard on his fitness with a lot of running and exercise but all he told us was to stay agile through the day's play," Ravi says, while recalling a punch line by Taufel: "Stop thinking and start umpiring."
Elite Panel for 2015-16:
Aleem Dar (Pakistan); Kumar Dharmasena (Sri Lanka); Marais Erasmus (South Africa); Chris Gaffaney (New Zealand); Ian Gould (England); Richard Illingworth (England); Richard Kettleborough (England); Nigel Llong (England); Bruce Oxenford (Australia); S Ravi (India); Paul Reiffel (Australia); Rod Tucker (Australia).