DUBAI: Pakistan’s Aleem Dar and Ahsan Raza have been included by the International Cricket Council (ICC) in the panel of umpires who will officiate in the T20 World Cup 2021.

The cricket governing body on Thursday announced the appointment of 16 umpires and four match referees for the Round 1 and Super 12 stages of the upcoming ICC tournament.

The selection of a 20-strong group effectively means that, for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, there will be neutral umpires for all matches of the 16-team tournament, running from October 17 to November 14.

Three of the 16 umpires – Aleem Dar, Marais Erasmus, and Rod Tucker – will be officiating in their sixth ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.

The first match of the tournament, between Oman and Papua New Guinea on October 17, will be officiated by Sri Lanka’s Kumar Dharmasena, who was one of the on-field umpires for the final of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019.

Alongside New Zealand’s Chris Gaffaney. Ranjan Madugalle will be the match referee, with Richard Kettleborough to officiate as the TV umpire and Ahsan Raza, the fourth official.

The rematch of the 2016 final between England and the West Indies – a Super 12 Group A clash – will be overseen by Dar and Erasmus, with Australia’s David Boon as the match referee and Chris Brown on TV duty.

The officiating personnel for the semi-finals and final of the tournament will be named in due course.

Complete list of match officials

Match Referees: David Boon, Jeff Crowe, Ranjan Madugalle, Javagal Srinath.

Umpires: Chris Brown, Aleem Dar, Kumar Dharmasena, Marais Erasmus, Chris Gaffaney, Michael Gough, Adrian Holdstock, Richard Illingworth, Richard Kettleborough, Nitin Menon, Ahsan Raza, Paul Reiffel, Langton Rusere, Rod Tucker, Joel Wilson, Paul Wilson.