Vrinda Rathi is set to become the first ever national woman umpire in the Indian cricket history while N Janani is also ready to follow Rathi’s step as both are soon going to officiate the cricket matches.

On Wednesday (November 14), Vrinda Rathi will become the first national woman umpire, who will officiate in a C.K. Nayudu Trophy (Men’s U23 competition) match between Manipur and Mizoram.

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Meanwhile, Janani will make her debut as an umpire on November 19 when she will officiate in the Tripura vs Andhra Pradesh match in the Cooch Behar Trophy.

Vrinda is a fitness expert from Nerul (Mumbai) while Janani worked in an IT sector in Chennai. A few months ago, both sat in the same room to give board’s level 2 exam. By passing that exam, both have become eligible to officiate the first-class matches.

Vrinda was a medium pace-bowler who represented Mumbai University for four consecutive years since 2007. She was also a part of the Mumbai University cricket team that emerged as the all-India champion in 2008-09. But her career ended soon after getting dropped from the Mumbai University. Meanwhile, Janani had to end her cricket career at a very early stage due to academic reason. However, both are still very passionate for the game and weren’t satisfied to just remain as a cricket lover. This insistent has led them to create the history in Indian cricket.

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Before coming to this big level, Vrinda officiated in local matches under Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) after passing the state panel umpiring exam in 2014, while Janani cleared the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) state panel exam in 2015 and began to officiate in TNCA’s third and fourth division matches.

Then they set for the BCCI’s umpiring courses exam. After clearing the level 1 exam, both also cleared the level 2 exam which is very tough to crack.

Talking about her experiences to officiating the men’s cricket, Janani feels that the players behaved a little better with her.

According to The Indian Express, Janani shared her experience to officiate the men’s cricket, “It was just like any other match. In fact, I believe they’re a little more well behaved when they realise the umpire is a lady. I remember a third-division match in Chennai wherein at least 3-4 batsmen didn’t wait for my decision (after they had edged). They just walked.”