'Top performer of the Indian season' - Twitter hails Nitin Menon for impressive umpiring

India’s home series against England came to an end on Sunday with the conclusion of the three-match ODI series in Pune. The Men in Blue beat the visitors by seven runs in the thrilling third ODI to clinch the series 2-1. Fortunes swung from one side to another in the series-decider before India finally managed to win the thrilling contest at the Maharashtra Cricket Stadium.

Asked to bat first, India were all out for 329 in 48.2 overs. In-form Rishabh Pant top-scored for the hosts, scoring 78 off 62 balls. Opener Shikhar Dhawan (67) and all-rounder Hardik Pandya (64) scored fifties too to guide India to a challenging total. In reply, England fought well thanks to Sam Curran’s unbeaten knock of 95 but eventually fell short by 7 runs as they finished their innings on 322 for 9.

Before the ODI series, India had also won the Test and the T20I series. In both the series, England won the first game before India came back from behind to clinch the series. In the four-match Test series, England won the first game before India won the remaining three. England then won two of the first three games of the T20Is before India won the last two games to win the series.

Nitin Menon’s impressive umpiring

The series between India and England lived up to the expectations as both the teams fought hard especially in the limited-overs series. Several players from both teams caught the attention of the cricketing fraternity with their fine performances. Apart from the players, another man who has caught everyone’s attention is umpire Nitin Menon.

Usually, the umpires make it to the news only after committing some blunders but Menon is proving to be an exception. The youngest Indian umpire in the ICC Elite Panel, Menon performed extremely well in the series. Throughout the series, the commentators including the likes of Sunil Gavaskar and Aakash Chopra heaped praise on him as he kept delivering one impressive decision after another.

Throughout the series, it looked like the technology was in sync with him. One of his best moments came in the third ODI when Krunal Pandya’s delivery hit Dawid Malan on his pad. The England batsman wanted to flick the delivery but missed it completely. The Indian fielders were convinced they had their man but Menon gave his decision in the batsman’s favour.

However, Virat Kohli was convinced that Malan was a goner and decided to review the decision. The replays from the first to the penultimate stage suggested Malan’s knock had come to an end. But to everyone’s surprise, the final replay showed that Menon was correct as it showed that the ball was missing the stumps.

And as Menon impressed on the field, the cricket fraternity lavished praise on him.

Here are some of the messages for the umpire