India vs Australia Third Test 2023, News, Referee Nitin Menon, Error, Error, DRS, Video, Highlights, Latest

Indian referee Nitin Menon was slammed for his cruel performance in the first innings of the third Test at Indore, missing a whopping five decisions – including a number that seemed quite obvious.

In the very first over, speedy Aussie Mitchell Starc had Rohit Sharma, who shoved the ball behind the stumps on the Test’s opening ball to Alex Carey – but Menon didn’t hear the kink. Australia was unable to carry out the verification.

Three balls later, Starc had caught Sharma in front but Menon again turned down the appeals. Once again, Australia failed to check. And once again, video footage and ball tracking technology showed Menon made the wrong decision.

For Menon, it was just the beginning of a tough day at the office.

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He handed India batter Ravindra Jadeja out of LBW to Nathan Lyon, but the batsman successfully checked the decision after an inside edge.

Then, just before lunch, Lyon held KS Bharat from his stumps for 17 – and Menon forced the Australians to use a check to get the correct score after failing to release it.

That made it four errors in the opening session.

Another controversial moment came after lunch when Matthew Kuhnemann outpaced Ravichandran Ashwin. Menon turned down the appeal for Alex Carey’s catch, but Carey had deftly whipped away the bails – meaning the Aussies could also appeal for a stumping. When it was sent upstairs to Richard Kettleborough, he followed protocol and checked everything, with a clear rash on the Ultraedge (“Snicko”), meaning Menon had to change his mind again.

Fans couldn’t believe their eyes as Menon made mistake after mistake.

And Menon’s fellow referee Joel Wilson – notorious for his efforts in the 2019 Ashes series – soon followed in Menon’s footsteps by failing to knock out Australian opener Travis Head on an LBW shout from Ravindra Jadeja. India checked successfully with ball tracking showing ball hitting center stump.

And Wilson was again at fault when Ravichandran Ashwin dismissed an appeal for LBW against Marnus Labuschagne – wrongly – as India failed to review it after wasting two of their three assessments early in the innings.