IPL 2019: After Spat with Virat Kohli, Umpire Kicks Door

In cricket, one often hears about players showing plenty of emotion when a decision does not go their way. However, the umpires are also prone to emotional outbursts as well, as exemplified by Nigel Llong after an argument with Virat Kohli. Llong has been a member of ICC’s elite panel of umpires for a while.

However, after officiating a match between the Royal Challengers and the Sunrisers Hyderabad, tensions boiled over. After an altercation with Virat Kohli, he damaged a door to the umpire’s room. Afterwards, Llong paid for the damages and the matter was reported to the Committee of Administrators.

Apparently, Llong kicked the door after a heated first innings at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. Virat Kohli had an issue with Llong’s decision to call a final-over no-ball off Umesh Yadav’s bowling. Replays suggested that the delivery was legal and Llong had a lengthy discussion with Virat Kohli and Umesh Yadav.

Inspite of evidence showing otherwise, Llong did not budge from his decision inspite of protests. As a result, five runs were added to the Sunrisers’ tally, though RCB still won the match with four balls to spare.

Llong then stormed to the umpires’ room and kicked the door in a moment of frustration. The door was dented and cracked, but luckily, the glass panel at the top did not break. In response, the Karnataka State Cricket Association reported the matter to the Committee of Administrators.

“It was an unfortunate incident,” KSCA secretary R Sudhakar Rao admitted, speaking to ESPNcricinfo. “He [Llong] gave a wrong no-ball decision in the match, and Virat went and spoke to him, and Umesh also spoke to him. So he might have been upset, and frustrated. He came back and kicked the door to the umpires’ room after the first innings. So there was a crack and a dent in the door. The glass didn’t break, fortunately.

“After the game, I found out, and I met the match referee. I spoke to him, and we had a discussion, and I have reported the matter to the CoA. It’s a BCCI event, so it is for them to make the decision, if any.”

“He paid us Rs 5000 for the damages,” Rao said. “He was civil about it, but he had caused damage, so we had to charge him for it. He didn’t complain about it.”

Llong has umpired in 56 Test matches, 123 ODIs and 32 T20Is over the years, and is understood to have been pencilled in as one of the on-field umpires for the IPL 2019 final, to be played in Hyderabad on May 12.