Nitin Menon becomes youngest umpire

INDIA’S Nitin Menon on Monday became the youngest ever to be included in the International Cricket Council’s Elite Panel of Umpires for the upcoming 2020-21 season, replacing England’s Nigel Llong.

The 36-year-old, who has officiated in three Tests, 24 ODIs and 16 T20Is, is only the third from India to make it to the prestigious group after former captain Srinivas Venkatraghavan and Sundaram Ravi, who was axed last year.

‘To be officiating regularly along with the leading umpires and referees of the world is something that I always dreamt of and the feeling has yet to sink in,’ Menon was quoted as saying in an ICC statement.

Menon quit playing competitive cricket at 22 and by 23, he had become a senior umpire, officiating in BCCI accredited matches.

A selection panel comprising ICC General Manager (Cricket) Geoff Allardice (Chairman), former player and commentator Sanjay Manjrekar, and match referees Ranjan Madugalle and David Boon, picked Menon, who was earlier part of the Emirates ICC International Panel of Umpires.

While standard of Indian umpiring has copped a lot of criticism globally, performance of Menon over the past few years has been a silver lining. The qualification in Elite Panel makes Menon eligible to officiate in next year’s Ashes in Australia in case ICC revokes the local umpires for home series policy which has been approved owing to the Covid-19 pandemic.