Why Did Umpire Nitin Menon Take DRS For MI Even After They Lost All Their Reviews Vs RCB?

Why Did Umpire Nitin Menon Take DRS For MI Even After They Lost All Their Reviews Vs RCB?

Mumbai Indians lost both their reviews within 16 overs of RCB innings (x.com)

Mumbai Indians ravaged RCB by seven wickets and 27 deliveries to spare in match number 25 of IPL 2024 at the Wankhede Stadium. The outcome elevated Hardik Pandya and co. up to number seven on the points table, as they registered their second successive win of the tournament after coping three demoralizing defeats upfront.

Playing in front of their home crowd, Mumbai Indians overhauled their 197-run task with much ease off the back of half-centuries from Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav.

The crackerjack of a contest also witnessed its share of controversies, especially during the RCB innings in the first half of the game. The incident in question occurred when on-field umpire Nitin Menon decided to take a review to determine a possible caught behind off a seemingly wide delivery hurled down at RCB opener and captain Faf du Plessis.

Why did umpire take self DRS for Mumbai Indians?

A minor controversy broke out during the 17th over of the RCB innings, at a time when well-set opener Faf du Plessis (61*) was facing a charged-up Jasprit Bumrah. The star Mumbai Indians speedster sent down a slower ball wide outside the off-stump, with Faf poking at it for an attempted drive only to miss the ball completely.

Wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan made a diving effort to pocket a low catch forward, and was of the opinion that the RCB opener had made some contact with the bat.

To everyone’s surprise, on-field umpire Nitin Menon opted for a DRS call for the same even though Mumbai Indians had already burned all their reviews at the time. As it turned out, the third umpire eventually went in favor of the RCB.

Several fans and followers of the game quickly took to social media, with many alleging Nitin Menon of showing biasness towards Mumbai Indians.

However, a reasonable explanation would indicate that the umpire simply wanted to double-check a close call during the crucial stages of the RCB innings. Regardless, the eventual third umpire decision made little-to-no difference as RCB ended up losing the game with more than four overs left in the game.

Both Mumbai Indians and RCB will now face CSK and SRH respectively in the coming days.