Bangladesh's Sharfuddoula Saikat officiating in India as ICC representative

A Bangladesh Cricket Board official said on Sunday that umpire Sharfuddoula Ibne Shahid Saikat is currently in India as a match official for the ongoing ODI series between the hosts and New Zealand as he is an ICC contracted umpire.

While the BCB said that they are not ready to travel to India to play in the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup due to security reasons after the recent fiasco between the two boards involving the release of Mustafizur Rahman from the Kolkata Knight Riders squad for the upcoming IPL, quite a few eyebrows were raised after Saikat was spotted as a TV umpire in the opening ODI at the BCA Stadium in Vadodara on Sunday.

BCB's umpire department chairman Iftekhar Rahman told Cricbuzz on Sunday that Saikat does not require any no-objection certificate from the board as according to his contract he is free to leave whenever the ICC requires his service.

Saikat, the elite umpire from ICC who also officiated couple of matches in the ongoing Bangladesh Premier League T20 tournament, is currently working as the Head of BCB's Umpire Education Department. "He (Saikat) is ICC contracted umpire and we are saying this clearly that he is not contracted with us (BCB)," said Iftekhar.

"Now, in our contract it is written that when he has any ICC assignment, he will automatically be on leave from us. It will be an automatic leave and I don't need to give any NOC. In the job contract he has with me, it is written that if he has any ICC engagement, he must be automatically released. There is no authority for me to decide whether I give permission or not," he said.

Saikat and ICC international umpire Gazi Sohel are expected to feature in the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup, scheduled in India and Sri Lanka, as match officials.