Anil Chaudhary, a former Indian umpire, is scheduled to feature as a guest in CID, one of India’s most recognisable crime thriller shows. Chaudhary, who is well-known for upholding the law and making decisions on the pitch, will now play a fresh and distinct position on television. In an image that has gone viral on social media, he is seen with veteran actor Shivaji Satam’s iconic character ACP Pradyuman, wearing a black suit and similar sunglasses.
One of the most enduring and popular detective series in Indian television history, CID ran for more than 20 years. Soon, the most recent episode with the Indian umpire as a special guest would be available to stream on the over-the-top service Netflix. The renowned Kapil Dev, who also made a special appearance in the series, is one of the many guest stars that CID has received over the years.
Anil Chaudhary is now one of the famous people who have appeared in the series.
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Chaudhary, who recently announced his retirement from umpiring and has taken up a commentary stint for JioHotstar, is often seen as a broadcaster for the Haryanvi feed for the ongoing IPL 2025. With a unique blend of commentary and umpiring intellect, he is often seen explaining the decisions made by the on-field umpires, and how they were within the rules. He also runs a YouTube channel called “Umpire’s Call with Anil Chaudhary”, which has over one lakh fifty thousand subscribers.
“I’ve transformed into a commentator now. It’s a bit out of the box for me, broadcasting. For the last six months, I’ve been behind the microphone. I commentated during the Champions Trophy in Feb-March, though I took a ‘break’ during that time for umpiring in the Ranji Trophy final. I’ve received very good feedback about my umpiring. The viewers feel that I give a different perspective, since an umpire’s perspective is completely different. People feel that I say interesting things on TV commentary,” Chaudhary told TOI.
The veteran match official umpired in 131 IPL matches, the most by any umpire alongside S Ravi, Having officiated in 12 Tests, 49 ODIs, and 64 T20Is, the 60-year-old is also one of the four Indian umpires to have stood in over 100 international matches in men’s cricket. His last match as an umpire was the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 final between Vidarbha and Kerala in Nagpur.
Interestingly, he made both his international debut and officiated in his final international game in matches between India and Australia. His Test debut came during the pandemic, in the India-England Chennai Test, as part of the ICC’s home umpire adjustments.
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