Menon solitary Elite umpire, whereas pair of Chaudhary and Sharma to make Take a look at debut
The pattern of dwelling umpires officiating in Assessments in the course of the pandemic will proceed within the upcoming India-England collection, with the ICC appointing the pair of Anil Chaudhary and Virender Sharma to face alongside Nitin Menon within the first two Assessments. Each matches can be performed in Chennai, with the primary Take a look at beginning on February 5 and the second from February 13.
Whereas Menon, the one Indian official on the ICC’s Elite Panel, can be standing in his fourth Take a look at, it is going to be the maiden Take a look at look for each Chaudhary and Sharma, each of whom are a part of ICC’s Worldwide Panel of umpires. Whereas Chaudhary has an expertise of officiating in 20 ODIs and 28 T20Is, Sharma has stood in simply two ODIs and a solitary T20I.
Chaudhary would be the on-field umpire for the primary Take a look at, with Sharma changing him within the second. C Shamshuddin, additionally a part of the Worldwide Panel, would be the third umpire for the primary Take a look at, and can be changed by Chaudhary for the next match. Former India quick bowler Javagal Srinath would be the match referee for England’s whole tour, which additionally contains 5 T20Is and three ODIs.
The ICC has not but introduced the roster for the ultimate two Assessments, that are to be performed in Ahmedabad, together with a day-night Take a look at beginning February 24 adopted by the fourth and last Take a look at from March 4. It stays to be seen whether or not the ICC will get a impartial umpire for the second leg of the Take a look at collection.
Though the pandemic has allowed the ICC and cricket boards to gauge the efficiency of a number of match officers on the Worldwide Panel, the talk on whether or not the perfect umpires ought to stand in a Take a look at collection has remained a key speaking level throughout this era. Final December, West Indies Take a look at captain Jason Holder had questioned why ICC was not making Elite umpires journey for bilateral collection when gamers had been being requested to stick to bio-secure setting norms.
Nonetheless, England’s Richard Illingworth was recently announced as a impartial on-field umpire for the two-match Take a look at collection between Bangladesh and West Indies. However that was facilitated by the ICC solely as a result of hosts Bangladesh don’t have an umpire within the ICC’S Elite Panel.
Menon, who grew to become the 62nd Indian umpire to face in Assessments in 2019, has by no means stood in a pink-ball Take a look at. Nonetheless, he has the expertise of standing in first-class matches below lights, together with the Duleep Trophy and a Sheffield Protect recreation. Shamshuddin and Chaudhary are the following two senior-most umpires adopted by Sharma and Okay Ananthapadmanabhan, each of whom had been added to the Worldwide Panel lately.
Nagraj Gollapudi is information editor at ESPNcricinfo
