New Delhi: English umpire Nigel Llong could face the BCCI’s scrutiny for allegedly damaging the door of a stadium room after an argument with Virat Kohli but the Indian board is unlikely to remove him as an official for the IPL final on May 12. Llong reportedly lost his cool after being confronted by Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Kohli over a contentious no ball call against Sunrisers Hyderabad during an IPL match on Saturday in Bengaluru. According to reports, the ICC Elite Panel official kicked the door of the umpires’ room during the innings break and damaged it.
A BCCI official told PTI that Llong might have some explaining to do but the matter will not cost him his place as a designated umpire for the IPL final to be held in Hyderabad. The BCCI, it is learnt, is in a dilemma on whether to even consider taking such a step for a moment’s indiscretion. In Bengaluru, Karnataka State Cricket Association secretary R Sudhakar Rao said the KSCA has demanded action against Llong. Rao, however, did say that the 50-year-old paid for the damage caused.
“We have reported the matter to the Committee of Administrators (COA) and hopefully action will be taken against Nigel Llong. If the players are punished for their misdemeanour and fined their match fees then why not the umpires,” he said. “I didn’t speak to umpire Llong but I spoke to match referee Narayanan Kutty. I am hopeful COA will take action,” he added. Llong paid Rs 5000 after he was confronted by the KSCA officials and had demanded a receipt of the payment. Meanwhile, Indian umpire S Ravi said that since Llong is a foreign, he was let away with a fine, while the same would not have been the case if it was an Indian umpire. Ravi also maintained the fact that it’s the umpire’s duty to make sure that every individual on-field maintains a proper behavior. “I can tell you with 100 percent surety that if an Indian umpire had behaved like this, he would have been banned for life the next day,” Ravi said.
