Umpire in New Zealand versus Pakistan warm-up tie grabs attention due to uncanny resemblance with Shreyas Iyer

The warm-up matches in the 2023 edition of the ODI World Cup are underway. New Zealand and Pakistan are squaring off in Hyderabad in the third game on Friday, September 29.

During the match, one of the on-field umpires, Akshay Totre, got into the limelight after fans spotted an uncanny resemblance in his appearance with star Indian cricketer Shreyas Iyer. The meme world went into a frenzy as fans compared the umpire to Shreyas and some hilarious comments surfaced on social media.

pic.twitter.com/qkjHApShba

— Out Of Context Cricket (@GemsOfCricket) September 29, 2023

real id se aao shreyas Iyer

— kunal jhurani (@myhumour_side) September 29, 2023

Shreyas Iyer starts his warm-up for the world cup a day before the rest of the Indian team does. Respect.

— Zucker Doctor (@DoctorLFC) September 29, 2023

Just feels like he will break into stand up comedy right after this. It's that kinda face

— Shreya (@Notti_kudi) September 29, 2023

Shreyas IYER be like : Pata nahi nujhe khilage bhi ja nahi professional change kar leta hoon… pic.twitter.com/w5hjWQsEsI

— Amann (@amanoncinema) September 29, 2023

Shreyas ka doppelganger

— Er.Atul Vaidya🇮🇳🚩 (@atulvai04795672) September 29, 2023

For the unversed, Akshay is a 36-year-old umpire from Indore, Madhya Pradesh. He has officiated in 22 matches in First-Class cricket, 30 in List A, and 41 in T20s. He also officiated in six games matches in the 2023 edition of the Indian Premier League.

On the other hand, Shreyas returned to international cricket in the Asia Cup 2023 after recovering from a back injury, that required surgery. However, he could only play a couple of games as a back spasm sidelined him for the Super Four matches and the final against Sri Lanka.

The Mumbai batter needed some runs to boost his morale, heading into the ODI World Cup, and he managed to churn out some significant scores during the three-match series against Australia. Shreyas finished third on the list of highest run-getters in the series, with 156 runs in the three games at an average of 52 and a strike rate of 110.64. He registered his third ODI hundred and fourth overall in the second game.

Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan notch up half-centuries against New Zealand in warm-up game

Pakistan opted to bat first after winning the toss in the ongoing warm-up game in Hyderabad against New Zealand. This game is being played behind closed doors as the local police had informed earlier that they will be unable to provide adequate security.

Interestingly, the Kiwis opened the bowling with Glenn Phillips alongside Matt Henry. Openers Abdullah Shafique and Imam-ul-Haq were quite watchful before they were eventually dismissed for 14 and 1, respectively. From 46/2, captain Babar Azam stitched a partnership in excess of 100 runs with Mohammad Rizwan, and both the experienced players reached their half-centuries in the process.