Who is Sharfuddoula Saikat? The Third Umpire Behind Yashasvi Jaiswal's Controversial Dismissal

The third umpire in the fourth Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Sharfuddoula Saikat, raised eyebrows with his decisions in the match that was played on Day 5 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). The 48-year-old Bangladeshi umpire made a wrong decision when India’s opener, Yashasvi Jaiswal was given out caught behind though there was no spike on the snickometer.

At that stage the Indian team was still in a position to save the match with let Jaiswal alone in a the draw crease. The Indian batter was given not out by on-field umpire Joel Wilson and the Australians chose to review straightaway. While there was no spike shown by the snickometer, Saikat was able to pick a deflection and changed the decision which led to Jaiswal’s dismissal and India’s dream of saving the Test match being shattered. 

Saikat began his career as a player and was even a decent left-arm spinner. He also played three matches for Bangladesh in the 1994 ICC Trophy which was a tournament which was used as a qualifier for the World Cup. The Dhaka-born had some decent performances during this tournament, giving away 6 wickets at an average of 18.66 and an economy rate of 4.17. Besides this, he had a fairly good first class record as well which included 31 wickets in 10 matches at an average of 23 with two five wicket hauls.

Although Saikat couldn’t play more international matches he decided to switch to umpiring. He has worked in both men and women’s internationals cricket. Saikat has stood as an on-field umpire in 15 Tests, 63 ODIs, 52 T20Is, 13 WODIs and 28 WT20Is and he also officiated in the 2023 Women’s U19 World Cup as well as the 2023 ODI World Cup.

Saikat replaced Marais Erasmus the legendary South African umpire to become the first Bangladeshi umpire to be a part of the ICC Elite Panel of Umpires. Saikat also has an MBA in Human Resource Management from American University-Bangladesh.