Umpire Nitin Menon has been facing a lot of flak from social media users for his umpiring in the PBKS vs MI match. Quite a few decisions given my Menon during the match went Mumbai Indians’ way, prompting users to call Menon MI’s ’13th man’.
Mumbai Indians are desperately in search of a win after winning only two out of six matches in the IPL 2024 so far. They are however in a strong position against Punjab Kings at Mullanpur Cricket Stadium on Thursday. After being put to bat first, Mumbai Indians scored 192 runs. In reply Punjab Kings are reeling at 50/5 after seven overs.
However, controversy has erupted in the form of umpire Nitin Menon who has given quite a few controversial calls in the match. Nitin Menon is the third umpire for the MI vs PBKS match. He overturned a controversial leg-side wide in favour of the Mumbai Indians, while also giving a wide which went under Rohit Sharma’s bat. His decisions invited the wrath of cricket lovers for favouring the MI team.
His decisions even prompted Tom Moody to call for a specialist third umpire on social media.
“It’s time we considered having specialist 3rd umpires, too many questionable decisions being made. Some umpires are better suited on field, the 3rd umpire requires experience and a certain skill set,” Moody tweeted.
Here is how the social media reacted to Nitin Menon’s controversial calls.