Indian umpire Nitin Menon was in the middle of things on Day 2 of the ongoing fifth and final Ashes 2023 Test at The Oval courtesy of making a really close, but correct run-out decision in favor of Australia’s starman Steve Smith.
This gave the Indian fans an opportunity to take a cheeky dig at Nitin Menon by bringing out how on multiple occasions, Nitin Menon has given Virat Kohli and Indians out in case of tight umpire calls.
In the 78th over of Australia’s innings, Steve Smith tapped Chris Woakes on the leg side and set for a couple.
Deep mid-wicket fielder, George Ealham, the substitute fielder, does superbly to sprint in, pick up the ball and throw at the striker’s end. Wicket-keeper Jonny Bairstow receives the throw and messes the stumps. Initially, it seemed that Smith was out and he even started to walk and England began celebrating.
However, third umpire Nitin Menon decided to look at it closely and ruled out that the bail was not completely dislodged from both grooves until Smith was just inside his crease. There was also debate about whether Bairstow had dislodged the bail before taking the ball, making the bail irrelevant. In either case, Smith was saved.
Nitin Menon was praised by everyone for his sharp work as a third umpire.
Indian fans had some fun on Twitter by trolling Menon with a “Virat Kohli” dig:
Virat Kohli after seeing Nitin Menon getting applauded for a good decision: pic.twitter.com/PREzCO9piF
— Tanishq Ganu (@smart__leaks) July 28, 2023
Nitin Menon making decisions for other players vs Virat Kohli https://t.co/xDBZ65iylE pic.twitter.com/v4eUW1sVbq
— SV5 Enjoyer (@shiv_t3ds) July 28, 2023
https://twitter.com/DeepTake/status/1684946416857190402?s=20
Nitin Menon umpiring in other batsmen playing vs Nitin Menon umpiring when its Kohli playing ..! #ViratKohli𓃵 #Ashes2023 #Ashes23 #AUSvENG #ENGvsAUS #TwitterX pic.twitter.com/Px0X4sNUT9
— Shadev Thakur (@shadevrana0061) July 28, 2023
Kohli to Nitin Menon: Mai hota toh out tha😂#Ashes2023 #Ashes23 #Nitinmenonpic.twitter.com/28dtOa4mS8
— Rajiv (@Rajiv1841) July 28, 2023
Nitin Menon to others vs Nitin Menon to Kohli https://t.co/mUAEAJrmlO pic.twitter.com/BHneJlXVIS
— 🍺 (@anubhav__tweets) July 28, 2023
Was Nitin Menon’s decision correct?
Yes, Nitin Menon’s decision of giving Steve Smith NOT OUT in the controversial run-out event was correct. The Marylebone Cricket Club, the guardians of the cricket laws, also confirmed that Nitin Menon’s decision to give Smith not out was indeed the right one, because the bail had not been completely dislodged until Smith’s bat got inside the crease.
Tom Smith's Cricket Umpiring and Scoring, MCC's Official Interpretation of the Laws of Cricket, adds: "For the purposes of dismissal – a bail has been removed at the moment that both ends of it leave their grooves." (2/2)
➡️ https://t.co/EyxKtnx0i2#MCCLaws
— Marylebone Cricket Club (@MCCOfficial) July 28, 2023
Steve Smith finished with 71 runs, helping Australia got to 295, Australia finishing with a slender lead of 12 runs, making this Test match now effectively a last innings shootout.
