JR Madanagopal IPL Umpire 2021 and Beyond

The playing years strengthened his resolve in life. While his elder brother (J Gokulakrishnan) made his Ranji debut at 20, he could not break through into the team till he was 24. And when he did with a glorious one day domestic debut followed by successive years of topping the charts in domestic cricket, he was taken out of the scene, dropped unceremoniously by the State Selectors. He was not yet 30 when he made up his mind to pursue a serious career in Umpiring following a call made by RBI Cricketer Prabhu Balachandiran, who seeded the idea into him, similar to how TNCA Umpire Gururajan initiated KN Ananthapadmanabhan almost around the same time. While he got into the BCCI panel in 2006 years along with his former IOB teammate Ananthapadmanabhan and then into the fourth umpire’s chair in the IPL as early as the third edition, it has been a long and testing journey since, for the former South Zone batsman JR Madanagopal.

He has not had opportunities coming his way as he may have visualized in those early years of umpiring. He was part of the ‘fourth umpires’ team in 2014 as well but then went out of ‘IPL’ action. In the 2016-17 domestic season, he umpired his first knock out match in the Ranji Trophy alongside Ananthapadmanabhan. Despite officiating in the Ranji Semil Final, IPL and higher accolades remained elusive. 

Former BCCI Umpire R Radhakrishnan was the one who mentored several umpires in the early 2000s before they took the BCCI examination in 2006. He recalls those days with Madan “Out of the all the umpires that I have helped prepare for the exam, Madan was the one who had the most thought provoking arguments with me. Even at that very early stage, he craved for perfection and did not accept unless he was 100% satisfied. He has that ability and inclination to learn everything in its absoluteness and thoroughly. His 'thirst to learn' was encouraging for me as a teacher. His focus as an umpire is something to be emulated. ”

Radha says that in the modern world, words like commitment and passion have come to be used too frequently and too loosely. But in Madan, he found that real ‘வெறி’ for umpiring "His match preparedness is such that he wants to do the best job on the field and that should take him right to the top."

It has been a long 15 year journey thus far for Madanagopal in Umpiring. It has been one that has many times tested his commitment and patience. It has also thrown within himself a lot of questions on his future. In the last 12-24months, he has internalized himself even more strengthening his mind to face the challenges of an uncertain life. Yoga has become an integral part of his life and it has helped his fitness. He is easily one of the fittest umpires around. 

During his playing days, Madanagopal had stayed under the radar and away from limelight and tried to do his best in the opportunities that have come his way. He has been so ‘silent’ and ‘off radar’as an umpire that no media even made a mention of his IPL debut, let alone featuring a story!!! 

Former Elite Panel Umpire S Ravi (Umpire S Ravi) had told this writer in March 2020 that things may not always go his way in terms of opportunities, but one (he) should continue to give his best when he is on field. “The ride to the top and staying up there is not easy and Madan will have to show a great deal of patience. But he will be richer for the IPL experience.”

Finally there may be some bright light at the end of what looked like a long tunnel. The hard work and commitment displayed over a decade and a half is beginning to pay off for him.  

The two years leading up to 2020 had been particularly good for Madanagopal that has seen him featuring in important matches in recent times. In March last year, he received a letter of posting for the IPL but as luck would have it, the Pandemic forced the postponement of the tournament to later in the year to the UAE. With a restricted contingent, he lost out on the opportunity to feature in that edition. He did well in the Syed Mushtaq Ali and Vijay Hazare tournaments in January and February this year. Following this, he received a surprise call, the biggest of his career so far.

The first few months of 2021 have seen new milestones in Madanagopal’s umpiring career. He donned the role of the fourth umpire in the one day match between India and England end of March this year. Soon after, he was informed of his appointment into the IPL umpiring panel for this year. 

On April 22, he made his on field debut as an IPL umpire. Even though he had to reverse a decision on a very tight call within the first quarter of the match, his conduct over the rest of the match showed that he was able to keep his emotions under control and did not feel the nerves. The fact that S Ravi was his colleague would have helped him in terms of match management. 

While he was scheduled to officiate as a third umpire on May 2, he received another surprise call prior to that and made his debut as a TV Umpire ahead of schedule on April 30, a possible indication that he was getting into the considered set at the highest level. As a TV umpire, as against the usual DRS referral, Madanagopal faced different queries - decisions that do not usually come up in T20 cricket. He had to make calls on a ‘bump ball’, a ‘bowled’ decision and a run out - ¬‘crossing of batsmen’ - where his grip of the law was tested. All of these three decisions were different kind of calls for the TV Umpire. In addition to this, he also experienced auto no balls for the first time.

His IOB team mate from 1990s and umpiring colleague over the last 15years Ananthapadmanabhan (KN Ananthan) who watched those matches says that Madan was outstanding in the couple of matches he did as TV umpire. “In the one match he did as an on-field umpire, his body language was excellent, and he was calm and composed. The one decision that got overturned was really tough with right arm bowler bowling over the wicket to a left hander and a shoe and bat involved. Despite this early overturn of the decision, he stayed strong through the match.”

Arjan Kripal Singh, who has been a match referee for a decade, has seen Madanagopal umpire in the domestic circuit during this period. He too sees Madan as an outstanding umpire  “Madan has been able to gain the respect of the players which is a very critical aspect for an umpire. He has good control over the game, makes very few errors on the field and his communication is extremely good. He's likely to turn out to be one of the finest umpires in the future.”

Several years ago, the then Hony Secy of the TNCA (and now the CEO of CSK) KS Viswanathan (KSV) had said that Madan was one of the best ‘player turned umpire’ that he had seen. Speaking to this writer in March, he had said that Madan was highly rated and that he was confident of this former first class cricketer doing very well in umpiring.

TN fast bowler from the 1960s and 70s B Kalyanasundaram (Kalli) was a match referee till 2013 and watched Madanagopal closely. He says that Madan minimized the work of a match referee “His knowledge of the playing conditions and its interpretation was so thorough that when Madan umpired, there was no role for the match referee. Having played first class cricket for many years, he knows the nuances. I have never seen get ruffled. He communicated with supreme confidence and that came to the fore in the interactions he had with me as a match referee. There is a cricket intelligence that stands out in him.”

The man who sowed the umpiring thoughts in Madan way back in 2004, RBI’s Prabu Balachandiran says while it is too early to judge from one IPL match, Madan clearly has all the qualities of an international umpire "He has the ‘game sense’ and understands well the players’ psyche.”

India’s top match referee P Ranganathan, who played first class cricket for Kerala in the 1980s, told this writer from his home in Thiruvanthapuram that he had known Madan for decades and that he exudes confidence when he walks out on to the field as an umpire “He displays a great deal of confidence as an umpire. His communication skills are very good. In addition to decision making, what is important for an umpire is the match management. I have seen the manner of his interactions with players and officials to be very good. A clear advantage for him is that he has been a first class player and hence he knows the players’ psyche and the ways of taking control of a match.” 

International match referee V Narayanan Kutti, who too played first class cricket for Kerala in the 1980s, has seen Madanagopal from his playing days in the 1990s. He told this writer from Thiruvananthapuram that being nominated as an umpire in IPL 2021 is an appropriate recognition for Madan "He was an excellent cricketer in his playing days. I was happy that he took up a career in umpiring after quitting competitive cricket. Subsequent to making it as a BCCI umpire, he has made steady progress along the ranks and is now one of the top umpires in the BCCI umpiring fraternity. I found Madan to be someone who prepares well and strives to remain on top of the game whenever an opportunity comes his way."

In August last year, Ananthapadmanabhan (KNAP Intnl Panel) was inducted into the International Panel of Umpires from India. It has been a happy phase for Madanagopal in recent months and newer opportunities have come his way that had been hitherto elusive. The Big Question now is as to how soon he can make the next big leap in his umpiring journey to join his mate from his IOB playing days in the International Panel.

This section will track his progress.