Former umpire Rajiv Risodkar translates 'The Laws of Cricket'

Indore-based Rajiv Risodkar, a former first-class umpire, achieves rare distinction as MCC officially accepts his Hindi translation of 'The Laws of Cricket'.

Rajiv Risodkar, having served in the BCCI panel from 1997 to 2016, has mentored many umpires affiliated to the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association.

 

Former first-class umpire Rajiv Risodkar achieved a rare distinction in his field when the Hindi version of the Laws of Cricket (2017 code and 2nd edition 2019), translated by him, was granted official recognition by the Marylebone Cricket Club on Wednesday.

Risodkar, a former BCCI Panel Umpire, and presently BCCI Level 3 umpire educator, completed the translation in April. “I was working in the project and the lockdown period gave me the opportunity. It is the first time that the translated Hindi version of 'The Laws of Cricket' is now officially available on the MCC website,” said Risodkar.

Risodkar, having served in the BCCI panel from 1997 to 2016, has mentored many umpires affiliated to the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association. Recently the BCCI had nominated him to deliver training to umpires from Maldives. He has also conducted several training sessions in the state using Hindi language for the benefit of the local aspirants.

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“I noticed during my tenure that many umpires were not comfortable with English. The Hindi version should help them understand the laws better. It will give them lot of confident. This book will be very useful for them,” said Risodkar, employed with the Bank of Baroda in Indore.

In 2000, the MCC had introduced the Laws of Cricket in 12 languages, including Gujarati and Urdu. They were dropped from the list since they had not been updated in 2017 when a new code was introduced. “The Laws now are available in Kannada and French other than English and Hindi,” said Risodkar, who officiated in 34 first-class matches, was also a reserve umpire for the India-England Test in Chennai in 2008.