Calcutta/Mumbai: Dave Richardson had said in New Delhi three months ago that Indian names were missing from ICC’s Elite Panel of umpires because they didn’t measure up to the required international standard. He had also expressed hope that the BCCI would take it as a challenge to improve the standard of Indian umpiring.

It seems the BCCI has taken a cue from the comments of ICC’s GM, cricket operations. Joint secretary M.P. Pandove announced on Friday that the entire panel of international umpires has been revamped and three new officials brought in to stand in ODIs at home.

The experienced trio of A.V. Jayaprakash (Karnataka), I. Sivaram (Hyderabad) and K. Hariharan (Delhi) have thus been pushed into wilderness, because they couldn’t graduate to ICC’s Elite Panel. They will be replaced by Amish M. Saheba (Gujarat), Suresh Shastri (Mumbai) and G.A. Pratap Kumar (Andhra Pradesh) with immediate effect.

Saheba and Shastri will perform on-field duties, while Pratap Kumar will be the TV umpire, Pandove said.

The appointments were made for three years.

The BCCI also appointed former Elite Panel member Srinivas Venkatraghavan as director of umpires. The former India captain will present a blueprint within 10 days on how to improve the standard of umpiring in the country.

In a novel idea, all domestic matches from the under-19 level will be video-recorded and those tapes used in the process of assessing umpires’ performance. The existing practice was to study captains’ and Match Referees’ reports while assessing umpires’ performance.