Hubli engineer qualifies as BCCI-accredited umpire

Engineers in India have often chosen their passion over their qualification. Many of them realize their actual potential while or after completing their engineering degree. The story of Srinath Kulkarni, another engineer from a small town of Hubli in Karnataka, is no different. Srinath, who currently lives in the state capital of Bengaluru, has recently passed to qualify as a Board of Control for Cricket in India-accredited umpire.

Srinath, who is now eligible to officiate as one of the four umpires from a game of cricket, had actually dreamt of becoming a professional cricketer himself. Unfortunately, it remained a dream as he shifted his focus from the sport to BE, completing his degree from BVB Engineering College.

“I had a dream of achieving success as a cricketer. That did not happen. Now I am happy that I have qualified as an umpire by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI),” shared Srinath as per Prajavani (originally translated from Kannada).

The Karnataka resident travelled all the way to Ahmedabad in Gujarat for the examination to get selected as an umpire for the richest cricket board in the world. The results were out recently, and of the many who sat for the exam, Srinath was the one among the 26 coming out with flying colours to inch a step closer towards his goal. He now aims to contribute to cricket in other ways.

“I wrote the BCCI umpiring exam in Ahmedabad in June. The results came on July 3. I got a good opportunity and my goal is to perform well in BCCI matches and contribute to cricket,” he said. 

“When I told my father about my desire to become a cricketer, he enrolled me in the Hubballi Cricket Academy here. I trained under Vijay Kamath of the academy. I also played for BDK Sports Club, he said. After completing engineering, I could not continue cricket. I joined a job in Bangalore. Then in 2014, I was selected as a KSCA umpire. I was also doing umpiring along with my job,” he concluded.