IPL 2019: Nigel Llong to officiate in the Final amidst ‘door kick’ controversy

During the match between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore on May 4, International umpire Nigel Llong was involved in a controversy. He had an on-field argument with Virat Kohli, the RCB captain, and Umesh Yadav after a contentious no-ball decision in the final over of the Sunrisers innings.

Thereafter, he kicked the door of the umpires’ room and subsequently, caused a dent. Llong, an ICC Elite Panel Umpire made an apology and paid INR 5000 for the damages. However, it has been learned that the umpire is set to officiate in the final of the Indian Premier League (IPL) between the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and the Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.

“Nigel Llong’s performance has been one of the best in the IPL. It was a moment’s outburst and can happen with any human being. He realised his mistake and paid from his own pocket. So the matter ends there,” a senior BCCI official close to the development was quoted as saying in Sportstar.

“The standard of umpiring in this current Indian Premier League has been sub-standard and especially the Indian umpires mostly have been below-par in pressure situations. We have S. Ravi, who is at the bottom of the Elite Panel and when fresh list of ICC Elite Panel is released, he won’t be there. In a big match like IPL final, you will need a match official like Llong,” the official added.

KCA files a complaint against Nigel Llong

Following the outburst, the Karnataka State Cricket Association wanted sanctions against Nigel and also lodged an official complaint against him. “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. I didn’t speak to umpire Llong but I spoke to match referee Narayanan Kutty. I am hopeful the CoA will take action,” KSCA secretary Sudhakar Rao had said after the incident.

After the controversy in Bengaluru, Llong had a decent outing in the Qualifier 1 between CSK and the MI at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

Get the latest Cricket News and updates from the Indian Premier League (IPL), Match Predictions, Fantasy Cricket Tips and lots more on CricTracker.com.