LUCKNOW, Sept. 26 -- It will be both an emotional moment and a significant achievement for former India U-19 World Cup cricketer Tanmay Srivastava, as he takes the field at Kanpur's Green Park Stadium as one of the umpires for the three-match one-day series between India A and Australia A. Lucknow's Tanmay will officiate in all three matches alongside Baroda's Ajitesh Argal, a fellow member of the 2018 Under-19 World Cup winning squad who was also adjudged Man of the Match in the final held in Malaysia. Col Sanjay Verma has been appointed as the match referee for the series. Shreyas Iyer-led India A will face Australia A in the opening match of the series on September 30, followed by remaining two games on October 3 and 5. The series is seen as a platform for emerging players to showcase their talent and push for selection in Team India for the three-match ODI home series against Australia, starting October 19. By officiating as one of the on-field umpires for the series, Tanmay will become only the second umpire from Uttar Pradesh to stand in an international match, after Kanpur's Satish Gupta, who officiated in nine internationals, including four women's ODIs, between 2002 and 2005. "It's a big achievement for Tanmay, and I extend my heartfelt congratulations to him," said 74-year-old Satish Gupta on Thursday. "It's good to know that former cricketers like Tanmay are choosing umpiring as a profession and I hope many more players will follow this path in the future, as it is indeed a very exciting career," said Gupta. Tanmay, however, feels an emotional connect with the moment, as his cricketing journey began nearly 25 years ago at Green Park Stadium, when he joined the state government-run cricket hostel there in 2000. "It will be quite an emotional occasion for me when I take charge of my international assignment at my home ground, the place where I learned everything about the game under the guidance of my coach Ramesh Pal. I still cherish my days in Kanpur, where I stayed until 2008," he said. Tanmay, 35, who played his last Ranji Trophy match for Uttar Pradesh at Green Park Stadium in Kanpur in 2018, cleared the BCCI's umpiring exam in 2023. Since then, he has officiated in both junior men's and senior women's domestic matches during his debut season as an umpire. In 2024, he officiated in Under-19 men's one-day matches, senior women's T20 tournament, the Vijay Hazare Trophy, and the Ranji Trophy, before making his way to the high-profile Indian Premier League. "Every game teaches you something new and I always enjoy this even while standing in junior matches. I also enjoyed my stint in the just concluded UPTwenty20 League in Lucknow, and it allowed me to learn and grow in the sport," he added. "Umpiring is the best seat to watch the game and after playing the game for so long, it's great to be involved in the game once again. It's a new start for me and I find it a different kind of beginning for me at 35," said Tanmay. From Uttar Pradesh, Kanpur's Sunil Chaturvedi remains the first one to be part of the match officials on the rolls of the Board of Control for Cricket India as match referee. Thereafter, Prayagraj's Rohit Prakash and Meerut's Parvinder Singh became the match referees in the recent past. "Had Rajiv Shukla Sir not advised me, I would not have pursued the job of umpiring. I'm thankful to him and the BCCI for giving me an opportunity to see the game from a different view," said Srivastava, who scored 7000 plus runs across all formats of the game in domestic cricket before playing his last domestic match in 2000....