Six possible reasons why India fails to produce high-quality umpires

#3 Not Having former players as umpires:

Saba Karim is the General Manager of BCCI Cricket Operations

Many countries have made it mandatory now for the umpires to have played cricket at least at the first-class level. According to Cricket Australia's Umpire Educator Denis Burns, former cricketer turned umpires are able to go and "meet their mates who are still playing state cricket or even international cricket and say, 'Hey, I might have well given these guys some stick when I was playing but now, on the other side of the fence, I can tell you it is a bloody hard job.’"

Including former cricketers as a part of umpiring setup helps to improve the credibility and bridge the gap between the players and the umpires. The umpires will relate to what the players go through and can associate themselves with their situation.

Unfortunately, more than 50% of the Indian umpires haven’t played cricket at a professional level. There seems to be a change under Saba Karim, the General Manager of BCCI (Cricket Operations). He says that BCCI is open to former cricketers to have as umpires.

However, Karim and BCCI should make sure that the job is made lucrative for the former cricketers and attract more cricketers playing at the first class and List A level to take up umpiring post-retirement.