Rithika Sri (Transgender Cricket Umpire) Age, Biography

Some Lesser Known Facts About Rithika Sri

• After completing her schooling, Rithika Sri was enrolled in a Mechanical Engineering diploma.

• Soon, she quit the studies and started working at a call centre in Mohali, Punjab, India.

• During this period, Rithika Sri wished to become a cricket umpire while watching the IPL matches.

• In 2019, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit India, she quit her job in Punjab and returned to Tamil Nadu.

• Rithika Sri then decided to apply for the position of a cricket umpire.

• In 2021, she started working as an umpire in cricket matches organised in Salem and Coimbatore.

• She then became the first transgender woman to be appointed as an umpire in Tamil Nadu, India.

• Once, during a media talk, Rithika Sri said that she approached the Salem District Cricket Association on social media. She said,
  

  U. Jayaraman, the umpire committee chairman, played a key role in guiding me. I also have to credit two senior umpires, R. Parthasarathy and V. Santhi Booshan, for teaching me everything about umpiring.”

• U. Jayaraman, a chairman at umpire committee, shared in the media that R. Rithika Sri learnt the facts quickly. He said,
  

  She was a quick learner and rose through the ranks to become one of the best in our district.”

  

  Rithika Sri with his trainer

• In 2024, she underwent transgender transformation treatment.

• She has served as an umpire in more than 300 local matches in Salem and Namakkal.

• In 2025, Rithika Sri joined the the Cannanore District Cricket Association (CDCA).

• In April 2026, the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) added the ‘Other’ category for the first time in gender section in umpire exam application.

• This opportunity made transgenders eligible for the position.

• Rithika Sri then made headlines when she applied for the State Panel Umpire exams in the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA).

• In February 2026, she cleared the CDCA umpiring exam. She then passed viva in March 2026.

• After that, in a media talk, Rithika Sri recalled that she was stopped to enter a cricket ground in Coimbatore.

• She said that the selectors told her to go through a match in new district Coimbatore, where she was denied entry, and some people passed bad comments on her. She said,
  

  I went back home crying after an hour, but not before fighting back against them. People often accuse trans people of begging, but then, at the same time, they don’t allow us to pursue a dignified livelihood. Can’t a transperson become an umpire?”

  

  Rithika Sri posing with her senior officials on a cricket ground