India’s Nidhi Buley and Ritika among four females to enter BCCI umpiring panel: The Indore-based Buley sisters, Nidhi and Ritika Buley, are among the four retired female cricketers who have made their way into the BCCI umpires’ panel with a distinction. Nidhi represented India in a Test and an ODI in 2006, while her younger sister Ritika represented Madhya Pradesh in 31 First-Class games. The BCCI conducted the exam for retired cricketers from June 10-13 and the result was declared.
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Overview of the news:
- To make the cut, candidates needed to score more than 120 points out of 150, and Nidhi and Ritika both passed with flying colours, scoring 133.5 and 133 points, respectively.
- V Kritika from Tamil Nadu and Ankita Guha of Vidarbha were the other females who were elevated to the BCCI panel, taking the overall number of BCCI-empanelled women umpires to seven.
- Nikhil Patil of Mumbai Cricket Association topped the exam with 147 marks.
- Earlier this year, the trio of Vrinda Rathi, N Janani and V Gayathari made history by becoming the first-ever women umpires to officiate in the prestigious Ranji Trophy.
About the Nidhi and Ritika Buley
Born into a sporting family, both Nidhi and Ritika want to represent India in the umpiring world for different reasons. The elder sister did not have a long career for India and missed out on playing at the prestigious Lord’s, whereas Ritika, who was unable to reach the greatest level as a player, wished to join the large club as a match official. Their inspiration is another Indore-based cricketer turned umpire, Nitin Menon, who is the only Indian in the ICC elite panel.
The 31-year-old Ritika also wants to umpire in both men and women games and climb to the highest level. Umpiring remains a male dominated territory and Ritika hopes for a change in the foreseeable future. Nidhi, on the other hand, had moved to Jharkhand from MP in her playing days and represented the former while appearing for the umpiring exam.
