When Delhi Capitals face Lucknow Super Giants in Visakhapatnam on Monday, an umpire from Bengal will officiate on-field for the first time in the IPL.

Abhijit Bhattacharya, a BCCI-level umpire since 2012 and one of the well-regarded umpires of the Cricket Association of Bengal, has been able to achieve a feat which no other umpire from Bengal could. There have been a few who have been assigned the fourth or reserve umpire’s job in the IPL, but none of them could wear the on-field umpire’s hat in the most popular and prestigious T20 franchise tournament.

If Bhattacharya officiates well in the six games where he has been tasked with on-field duty, he stands a fair chance of getting a game or two in the playoffs as well.

He will also be the fourth umpire in five other games.

“I did well in this season’s Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy knockout games as well as in the Ranji Trophy quarter-final between Vidarbha and Karnataka, where there was the use of DRS. I got 90 per cent of my decisions right in those games, which worked in my favour,” Bhattacharya said from Visakhapatnam on Thursday.

“Abhijit has earned it through sheer dedication, talent and hard work,” CAB umpires’ committee chairman Prasenjit Banerjee said.