Anil Chaudhary retires from IPL and international cricket, set to start a new journey

Veteran umpire Anil Chaudhary has decided to retire from the IPL and international cricket just before the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League. Chaudhary is an established name in Indian umpiring circles and has grown in stature over the years.

He has officiated in numerous international matches and has been a regular feature in the IPL over the last few years. Anil Chaudhary started his umpiring career in international cricket way back in 2013 during a T20I between India and Australia at Rajkot.

However, it took him almost eight years to officiate in a Test match. His first Test match as an umpire was the match between India and England in Chennai in 2021. He went on to officiate in 12 Tests.

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Anil Chaudhary retires from IPL and international cricket

According to TOI, Anil Chaudhary retired from IPL and international cricket after turning 60 recently. He has now changed his profession to a commentator and will be seen in the commentary panel for the Haryanvi feed in IPL 2025, with occasional stints on the Hindi panel as well.

He will also be focusing on umpiring in various T20 leagues across the world, mainly in the UAE and the US. Thus, he will be playing a dual role from now onwards and will serve both as an umpire and a commentator.

🚨 ANIL CHAUDHARY RETIRES FROM INTERNATIONAL & IPL UMPIRING 🚨

– He will be concentrating in commentary and umpiring in T20 Leagues in UAE & US. [Gaurav Gupta from TOI] pic.twitter.com/8xKbmOyoyJ

— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) March 21, 2025

While speaking to PTI, Chaudhary opened up about his new job and claimed that he was already doing the commentary for the past few months. He also spoke about his perspective of looking at the game as an umpire which is different from that of a cricketer.

“I have been commentating for the past three-four months. So, I was already in the transition phase. I have also been teaching umpiring and commentary via an online platform,” Chaudhary said.

“As an umpire, I did around 15 games in a season, here I would be doing more than 50 (matches). On air, former cricketers look at the game in their own way and being an umpire I have a different perspective on the game. It is fun,” he added.

Anil Chaudhary on the situation of Indian umpires

Chaudhary remained an international umpire for more than 12 years and has officiated in numerous IPL games. He has also served as an umpire in the Asia Cup final 2022 and five Ranji Trophy finals.

He also spoke about the situation of Indian umpires and claimed that they take too much stress while focusing on the bookish language rather than going with common sense.

“We take a lot of stress on the field. Sometimes, our umpires don’t eat properly. We are focussing too much on theory when we should worry about the practical implementation part,” said Chaudhary.

“Some get too technical, quoting the law all the time, that is not the best way to approach umpiring. Umpires who rely on bookish knowledge are harming the game,” he observed.

Anil Chaudhary’s umpiring career

Anil Chaudhary officiated in 12 Tests, 49 ODIs, and 64 T20Is. Although he did the job for 12 years in international cricket, he couldn’t make his way to the ICC Elite panel. Nitin Menon is the only Indian umpire on the list since 2020.

Chaudhary also retires as the most experienced umpire in IPL history. He has officiated in 226 matches in the IPL in which he served as 131 matches at an on-field umpire. Apart from this, he is the only umpire to have officiated in five Ranji finals.

The 60-year-old is also the only Indian to have officiated in an Asia Cup final, which was way back in 2022 that was played between Pakistan and Sri Lanka.