Meet Rithika Sri, the first transgender umpire from Tamil Nadu

The Tamil Nadu Cricket Association recently called out for applicants to appear for the State Panel Umpire exams. For the first time, the application form allowed a person to select ‘Other’ in the gender category, in addition to Male and Female. While it may look like a small change, it came thanks to the sheer grit and determination of a 31-year-old umpire from Coimbatore.

R. Rithika Sri is a transwoman from Salem who has been umpiring in the Salem and Coimbatore circuit since 2021 and has been instrumental in forcing this through.

Rithika is the first transgender umpire in Tamil Nadu. Born as R. Muthuraj, she is a diploma holder in Mechanical Engineering. The engineering dropout was working in Mohali at a call centre when she caught the umpiring bug while watching the IPL.