Few cricketers have a second innings staying in touch with the game. Even fewer have it staying on the field. Kumar Dharmasena finds himself in one such position of privilege. A handy off-spinner, with a skiddy, unorthodox action, he had the misfortune of belonging to the Muralitharan era of off-spin bowling.

He started off in 1994, gaining a reputation of being an accurate bowler meant for the limited overs. He had gained himself a reputation of bowling with unrelenting control. His four-fer at Port Elizabeth against South Africa in his first tour, his spells in Sharjah taking his side to victory were such instances. 1996 was a year Sri Lanka would have tattooed on their cricketing history for eternity. Dharmasena played his part in seeing his side all the way with valuable performances in the semis and the final.

The first nail in the coffin that threatened to derail his career big time came in 1998 when the ICC questioned the legality of his bowling action. When he was cleared by his board in 2000, he was back as an all-rounder. He did continue with sporadic appearances in the ODI side, especially when Sri Lanka were playing at home, not quite so in Tests. It finally drew curtains in 2006, when he walked off from the first class scene. Not before he had a record for himself, of having the most number of ODI innings before bagging a duck. 72 innings in his case.

With a fairly successful career behind him, Dharmasena spun another tale for himself in his second innings - once again on the field. This time as the taskmaster with the best seat in the house, an umpire, becoming the youngest Sri Lankan to be chosen for the job. He started off in 2009 in an ODI against India and soon moved up the ladder rather quickly to the Elite Panel of ICC umpires in 2011. More validation for his meteoric growth came a year later when he was awarded the David Shepherd award for being the umpire of the Year, 2012.

He followed it up with consistent features in the top draws at the ICC tournaments, officiating in the finals of the 2013 Champions Trophy and the 2015 World Cup. The job of an umpire is largely thankless. And subject to utmost scrutiny. Umpire KD had his moment of troll with the Decision Review System (DRS) becoming an omnipresence. His troubles came to the fore in the English Test tour of Bangladesh. In the first Test at Chittagong, he had eight of his decisions overturned, a record by some margin.

Nevertheless, he continues to remain one of the top draws at any ICC event and has by far become the best umpire Sri Lanka has ever produced.

By - Vineet Anantharaman