IPL 2026: Virat Kohli won the World Cup, then became an Income Tax Officer, now doing umpiring

Sanjeev Kumar

khelja|23-04-2026

Who is Ajitesh Argal? (Photo- GETTY/X)

IPL Umpire Ajitesh Argal: The stories of Indian cricketers often attract everyone's attention. Some players become stars, while others remain associated with cricket due to their hard work and choosing a new path. One such story is that of Ajitesh Argal, who played under the captaincy of Virat Kohli in the 2008 Under-19 World Cup and is now seen on the field as an umpire in the IPL. The 32nd match of IPL 2026 was played between the teams of Rajasthan and Lucknow. In this match, Ajitesh Argal made his debut in IPL as an umpire.

Who is Ajitesh Argal?

Ajitesh Argal played an important role in India's victory in the 2008 ICC Under-19 World Cup. In the final match against South Africa, he took 2 wickets and gave only 7 runs in 5 overs in the rain-affected match. Thanks to his brilliant bowling, India defended a small target and won the World Cup title. Ajitesh also received the Player of the Match award for this performance.

At that time Virat Kohli was the captain of the team and later he also captained the Indian senior team, but Ajitesh's journey was a little different.

In the first season of IPL, he was bought by Kings XI Punjab, but he did not get a chance to play even a single match. Even in domestic cricket for the Baroda team, he played only a handful of matches in almost a decade. Due to which, after less success in cricket, Ajitesh turned towards a stable career. He got a job in the Income Tax Department through sports quota and said goodbye to cricket. He continued working in a government job for many years, but the passion for cricket was still alive in him.

Suddenly a big decision was taken in the year 2023

In 2023, Ajitesh passed the BCCI umpiring exam and made a new beginning.

She gained umpiring experience in domestic cricket and Women's Premier League (WPL). Now he has reached the stage of IPL. Talking about Ajitesh's domestic career, he played a total of 10 first class matches, 3 List A matches and 6 T20 matches. During this period, he took 24 wickets in First Class, 1 wicket in List A and 4 wickets in T20.

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