Nitin Menon’s howler: Sri Lanka batter stares a hole through Indian umpire after atrocious decision brings back nightmare from the 90s

Nitin Menon’s bizarre call in Sri Lanka’s Asian Games bronze medal match against Bangladesh left Nuwanidu Fernando stunned, with no DRS to overturn it.

There are dubious decisions, there are poor decisions, and then there are blunders. But what umpire Nitin Menon pulled off in the Asian Games bronze medal match between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh was straight out of the 1990s, when officials would turn a blind eye and dish out one atrocious decision after another. Sri Lanka batter Nuwanidu Fernando wasn’t even born when subcontinental umpires would give those ridiculous calls, but he unfortunately lived through one of them when Menon, the only Indian umpire in ICC’s 12-member elite panel, suffered a brainfade for the ages.

Honestly, can you even blame the batter there? An absolute howler from Nitin Menon there (Screengrab)

Trying to hit the ball through the covers, Fernando missed, leaving a clear gap between the two. Surprisingly, Bangladesh went up in an appeal, and even more shockingly, Menon raised his finger. Fernando stayed there staring at the umpire, and justifiably so. And because there is no DRS at the Asian Games, he was left with no choice but to make the long walk back. The replay made Menon’s call look even worse.

Sri Lanka win bronze, but umpiring call sparks concern

It was the third wicket Sri Lanka lost, with the score on 18. But Tharindu Ratnayake’s 65 off 32 balls, along with captain Sahan Arachige’s 33, took the total to a formidable 165/9. Bangladesh’s chase never got off the ground as they were bowled out for 102, with their top three registering a duck each. After his heroics with the bat, Ratnayake starred with the ball too, picking up 2/18. Sri Lanka’s 63-run win got them a bronze, only their third of the Aichi-Nagoya Games.

Menon, 42, is recognised as one of the finest umpires India has produced. When he started out, his decisions were as good as gospel. You didn’t need DRS to review them because he would, more often than not, get them right. But over the course of his journey, even Menon lost his touch a bit. He once revealed how the life of an umpire can get extremely lonely, with many officials allowing distractions to spoil their careers.

A former List A cricketer, Menon has officiated in more than 200 matches, standing as an on-field umpire in 141 of them. In 2020, he was selected for the ICC Elite Panel of Umpires. Last year, Menon decided not to officiate in the Champions Trophy because the tournament was being held in Pakistan.