The Indian Nitin Menon, who gave up his player career in his early twenties to focus on the referee, said the appointment as Emirates ICC Elite Panel of Umpires was a dream come true.
When Menon received the call informing him of his appointment to the Emirates ICC Elite Panel of Umpires, he couldn’t stop his joy. After all, years of persistence on his referee trip would bring him his place among the best in the world.
As the son of former international referee Narendra Menon, the referee was not Nitin’s first career choice. As a teenager, he wanted to play the game. He even played in two List-A games for Madhya Pradesh in 2004.
But in 2006 there was an opportunity to test his referee’s ingenuity, and Menon decided to try it at his father’s suggestion. When he discovered that he had the talent to run games, he knew that his true calling was there.
“My father is a former international referee, and in 2006 BCCI ran a referee exam after a break of almost 10 years. My father told me to take a risk and the exam labeled” If you are clear , you can “give the referee always a job”, so I took the test and became a referee in 2006.
“My priority was to play for the country instead of being a referee. But I stopped playing at 22 and became a senior referee at the age of 23. It wasn’t worth trying to play and be a referee, so I decided to focus on referees alone. “”
Menon’s rise through the ranks was quick and at the age of 36 he became the youngest member of the Emirates ICC Elite Panel of Umpires. If Menon continues as he has so far, he could stare at a longer stay at the highest level, but although he is confident, he is careful to get carried away.
“I am very confident that age is on my side, but ultimately it depends on performance. Whether I do well or not, age has little to do with performance.”
In addition to years of domestic experience, including in the Indian Premier League, Menon has also played 43 caps for men. He also had experience in the World Cup when he was in the 2018 and 2020 editions of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup. Menon feels his experience over the years and the relationship he has built with other top referees will help him feel no extra nerves when he takes command as a member of the elite panel.
“The Ranji Trophy is very competitive and if we do well we get a chance at the IPL which feels like an international game in a way. There was still a bit of pressure when I was in my first international game but I quickly felt more at home. “
“I’ve been with most of the elite panel guys at IPL or international games, so I will always have a relationship with them and I feel comfortable going.”
Menon will be only the third Indian to form the Emirates ICC Elite Panel of Umpires after S Venkataraghavan and S Ravi. He wants more young people from the country to follow in these footsteps and has motivating words.
“As a referee you always have to work hard and perform every day,” he said. “It’s not like you only appear for a year and are on the elite jury, so we have to stick to our performance, and ultimately your hard work is rewarded because the structure requires that we be consistent.”
And there are several good reasons to do the job, but the most tempting prospect is that “you get the best place in the house. You can watch the best bowlers, best batsmen, best performers. You can’t ask for much more.” “.
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