IPL 2025: Who is Tanmay Srivastava, Virat Kohli's Old Teammate Turned Cricket Umpire?

It is a known fact to cricket fans across the world that Virat Kohli shot to limelight by winning the U-19 World Cup for India as a captain. There were massive celebrations across the country, and the players were given a hero's welcome on the streets. Since then, Virat was touted to achieve big in international cricket, and he ended up doing more than people's expectations. The star has put his name proudly in the record books of Indian cricket, and once he retires, he will leave a lasting legacy in world cricket.

In fact, the teammates he played the U-19 World Cup with all ended up successful in their own ways. While some managed to play for India, others went on to serve sport in different ways. One such player who has made a leap from cricket to umpiring is Tanmay Srivastava. Virat's teammate during the U-19 World Cup, Tanmay, dreamed of donning the shining blue jersey and representing his country proudly.

The left-handed batter got close to doing the same, but fate had other ideas. Having got selected in the Kings XI Punjab team for IPL 2008 and '09, Tanmay barely got any games to play for the franchise. But he continued to hope and eventually gave up his cricketing dream in 2020.

However, Tanmay Srivastava didn't lose hope when it came to getting himself associated with cricket. He decided to become an umpire and emerged successful in achieving the same. While studying for umpiring exams, Srivastava also did player scouting for RCB and also acted as a fielding coach for the U16s at the NCA in Jammu & Kashmir.

After successfully passing all his exams and set to make his IPL debut as an umpire, Tanmay had only praise for BCCI's rigorous programming to train umpires and also encouraging youngsters to take up the same.