Umpire Nitin Menon opens up on pressure of officiating in India during India matches

Umpire Nitin Menon has revealed that handling India matches in the past three years has helped him prepare for the Ashes 2023.

Umpiring in India or the Indian matches is one of the toughest things to do. Nitin Menon has been handling it for more than three years now.

In 2020, Nitin Menon was one of the umpires to be inducted into the ICC Elite Panel. Since there were COVID restrictions in the past three years, Nitin Menon officiated most matches in India. This also includes Indian Premier League. Overall, he has been a part of 15 Tests, 24 ODIs and 20 T20Is.

The Indian umpire is all set to make his debut in the Ashes next month. In his recent interview with PTI, he said that umpiring for Indian players has prepared him for the upcoming Ashes series.

"When India plays in India there is a lot of hype, a lot of big stars in the Indian team they always try to create pressure on you, they always try to get those 50-50 decisions in favour of them but if we are in control of ourselves under pressure, then we don't focus on what they are trying to do," he said.

He added that these situations have helped him build a lot of self-confidence. "It just shows that I am strong enough to handle any situation rather than getting worked up by the pressure created by players. That has given me a lot of self-confidence".

Nitin Menon is the only Indian umpire in the ICC Elite Panel. Talking about it, he said that it is a huge responsibility to lead the Indian panel.

"Leading the Indian international panel of umpires at home has also been a big responsibility. I did not have a lot of experience initially (when he entered ICC elite panel) but the last three years has helped me grow as an umpire," he said.

Nitin Menon also stressed being match-fit as the umpire. When there is a Test match, an umpire has to stand for more than seven hours. The Indian umpire said that one has to keep themselves fit in order to officiate matches.

"It is all about gym sessions and eating the right food. The more games you do your match fitness gets better as you are standing on the field for six-seven hours. I don't have to do anything extra," he added.

"Some players put more pressure but we are tactically ready"- Nitin Menon

The 39-year-old said that the umpires do think about how they will be handling the aggressive players on the field.

"If a player is expected to react in his typical way, we think about how we are going to handle him. Some players put more pressure but we are tactically ready as to how we can handle them," said the Indian umpire.

Nitin Menon is all set to officiate the 3rd Test of the Ashes.