India and Australia are in action in Indore for the third Test of the 4-Test Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) series. At Lunch on Day 1, India are struggling at 84/7 as they fell prey to their own weapon, spin. Both Nathan Lyon and Matthew Kuhnemann picked up three wickets each at Lunch. At the same time, Todd Murphy, who enjoyed an exceptional debut in Nagpur, picked up the crucial wicket of Virat Kohli.
Australia skipper Steve Smith was inspecting the pitch ahead of the game. Australia have been vocal about the nature of Indian pitches, and it finally feels like they have cracked the code. In Nagpur, Australia have been creating consistent chances to pick up wickets. These chances have been accompanied by an array of wrong decisions by the only Indian member of the Elite Panel of Umpires, Nitin Menon.
Nitin Menon made two wrong decisions in the first over
The opening ball of the game saw Mitchell Starc bowl a good length delivery that was angled across, as Rohit Sharma intended to poke it slightly. A faint sound was heard as the ball passed the outside edge of his bat before Alex Carey safely collected it in his gloves. There was a half-hearted appeal from the visitors. However, they decided against opting for the review. At the same time, later, Ultraedge displayed a spike when the ball passed the edge, thus handing the India skipper a lifeline.
The second lifeline to Rohit Sharma arrived three deliveries later when a swinging delivery went between his bat and pad, hit the latter and went over the stumps into the gloves of Carey. Another half-hearted appeal followed, and the Aussies again decided against the review this time. Later, Hawkeye suggested three reds, leaving the men from down under in dismay yet again.
The Aussies did not have to wait long to eliminate the India skipper. In the sixth over, left-arm orthodox spinner Matthew Kuhnemann bowled a flighted good-length ball, prompting Rohit Sharma to step out and go for the big one. The ball took a sharp turn and headed to Carey, who collected the complex take and stumped him out as he departed for 12 runs.
Here’s how fans reacted to Menon’s disastrous umpiring:
Pitch ke turn se jyada decisions overturn ho rahe hai
— Cricket Fan 07 (@Manas_pr_sharma) March 1, 2023
Nitin Menon:
Makes wrong Makes wrong
decision to decision to
get Kohli out save Rohit pic.twitter.com/IdyUERq8nW— B` (@Bishh04) March 1, 2023
Good to see opener KL Rahul being replaced by opener Nitin Menon.
— Trendulkar (@Trendulkar) March 1, 2023
Nitin Menon when Kohli plays vs when Rohit plays. #IndvsAus pic.twitter.com/OYXhzvj4WU
— Kohlified. (@123perthclassic) March 1, 2023
Wen Umpire Nitin menon see virat kohli comes to bat usmein steve bucknor ki atma aa jati hai..kohli ko sachin samjkar out pe out deta hai
Wen he see Rohit sharma bats thn pakistani umpire shakur rana ki atma aa jati hai..not out#INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/G7QkUbLgtR
— Vaibhav (@vabby_16) March 1, 2023
Decision are getting overturned more than the pitch now pic.twitter.com/PzNdGT5KG1
— jetha hitler ? (@baapofhollywood) March 1, 2023
Rohit Sharma survived again in 3rd Test cricket match.
Fans to Umpire Nitin Menon pic.twitter.com/L29NhAtfda
— Ashutosh Srivastava ?? (@sri_ashutosh08) March 1, 2023
Still better umpire than Nitin Menon pic.twitter.com/jbFl1mLqVF
— Sagar Sanjay Pawar (@SagarPwr_) March 1, 2023
