Tanmay Srivastava: Virat Kohli’s U-19 Teammate Turns IPL Umpire

Cricket tends to create interesting stories, and one of them is Tanmay Srivastava's. From being a bright young batman and a team-mate of Virat Kohli in India's triumphant 2008 U-19 World Cup team, Srivastava has today adopted a new role within the game umpiring in the IPL.

Srivastava was a very good cricketer in his younger days, topping the Indian run-scorer list in the 2008 U-19 World Cup. Though a few of his colleagues, such as Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja, had extended international careers, Srivastava took a different route. Following years of domestic cricket, he retired in 2020 and turned his attention to umpiring.

ALSO SEE: All IPL 2025 Venues to Hold Their Own Opening Ceremony

His path to umpiring is a proof of his innate love for the game. Given his background in playing, Srivastava carries with himself useful experience into his new function, ensuring play fair on the ground. Here now, having entered the IPL in an official role, he has come the full circle of going from runs scored under lights to taking those fateful middle decisions.

Cricket does find such peculiar ways to keep its players in its folds, and Tanmay Srivastava's tale is yet another case of the unpredictable yet intriguing nature of the game.