I Believe Umpiring Is All About Mental Toughness: Nitin Menon

Nitin Menon, who earned a lot of plaudits for his brilliant umpiring throughout the India-England series, has opened up about what has been a great last two months for the Indian official.

Menon was inducted into the ICC Elite Umpire’s List last year but he had to wait till February this year for his first major assignment.

And, on what were pretty tough tracks in the Test series, the 37-year-old showcased his imperious skills to the hilt.

Out of the 40 referrals taken against his calls, only five were overturned. Besides that, out of a total 35 referrals taken against his LBW calls, only two were overturned.

“The last two months have been great. It gives one great satisfaction when people notice and appreciate your good work. This series was always going to be a very challenging one because of the hype associated with it — a place in the World Test Championship final at stake, both teams coming back from impressive overseas wins, challenging pitches to officiate on,” Nitin Menon told PTI.

“As for the white-ball series, it was between the two top-ranked teams in the world. Taking all these factors into consideration, I am pleased that we did well as an umpiring team,” said Menon.

Menon officiated in all the four-Test matches, three out of five T20Is, and the entire three-match ODI series between India and England.

When asked about he dealt with such a grueling schedule, Nitin Menon said that umpiring is all about mental strength and when in good form, he likes to officiate in as many games as possible.

The 37-year-old, who is currently isolating ahead of his next assignment in the form of the IPL, said that just like players, umpires also have form and he would like to make the most of his purple patch.

“I believe umpiring is all about mental toughness. More the pressure better is the focus. If we can give our best performances when we are under pressure, that is the true reflection of how mentally strong we are,” he said.

“It’s not new for me to officiate in back-to-back matches, thanks to the amount of domestic cricket organised in India. On an average, we do eight four-day First-Class games on the trot in Ranji Trophy, with travel in between from one venue to another,” said Nitin Menon.

“Even in the IPL, we do around 14-16 games without a break, so all this experience has really helped me in this series. Like players, umpires also have form. I always feel that when in good form, I should do the maximum number of games without any break,” said Menon.

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