IPL 2026 Umpires & Match Referees List: Full Officials Panel for Opening Match

The Indian Premier League 2026 will start on March 28. In the first match, Royal Challengers Bengaluru will play against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.

The role that match management officials have during a long tournament season can hold the same weight as the performing athletes. There are many matches occurring during the season (a full schedule), requiring every match to have a team of officials to promote the fair play of athletes throughout the course of a game as well as after a game.

The BCCI appoints umpires and referees from both international and domestic (Indian) groups to participate in the IPL. The IPL usually selects more experienced personnel, specifically some ICC elite match referees and the elite Indian domestic match referees. The officials' main responsibility is to enforce rules and ensure that each team has the same opportunity to compete equally.

ICC Elite Panel Umpires

Umpire
Nitin Menon
Chris Gaffaney
Richard Illingworth
Kumar Dharmasena
Adrian Holdstock
Rod Tucker
Alex Wharf

International Panel Umpires

Umpire
J. Madanagopal
Rohan Pandit
Virender Sharma

Indian Domestic Umpires

Umpire
K. N. Ananthapadmanabhan
C. Shamshuddin

IPL 2026 Match Referees List

ICC Elite Panel Match Referees

Match Referee
Javagal Srinath
Ranjan Madugalle

International Panel Match Referees

Match Referee
Andrew Pycroft
Jeff Crowe