Chennai Test: 2 Indian umpires to officiate in a home Test for the first time since 1994

The Chennai Test between India and England on Friday will see two Indian umpires officiating in a home Test for the first time since 1994.

The two Indian umpires for the Chennai Test, the first of the four-match series, starting February 5, are Nitin Menon and Anil Choudhury.

The last time two Indian umpires stood in a home Test was in Ahmedabad, when India faced Sri Lanka in February 1994. The two umpires back then were AL Narasimhan and VK Ramaswamy.

The 1994 India-Sri Lanka Test was a historic one, as Kapil Dev went past Richard Hadlee’s record of 431 wickets in that game to become the leading wicket-taker in Test cricket.

The two umpires for tomorrow's Chennai Test are: Nitin Menon & Anil Choudhury.The last time two Indian umpires stood in a home Test was in the Ahmedabad Test vs SL in Feb 1994, when Kapil went past Hadlee.The umpires then: AL Narasimhan & VK Ramaswamy.#IndvEng #IndvsEng

— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) February 4, 2021

Due to travel restrictions owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ICC has allowed match officials of home teams to stand in World Test Championship matches.

Apart from Menon and Choudhury, Virender Sharma will also officiate in the India-England series. While Chaudhary and Sharma are part of the ICC Emirates Panel, Menon is India’s Elite Panel representative, having already officiated on-field in Tests.

According to a report in PTI, Menon has been a part of three Test matches, along with 24 ODIs and 16 T20Is. Chaudhary has stood in 20 ODIs and 28 T20Is, while Sharma has officiated in two ODIs and a solitary T20I.

All three Indian umpires have officiated in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

What happened the last time two Indian umpires stood in a home Test?

Sri Lanka batted first after winning the toss in the Ahmedabad Test, the third of a three-match series, in February 1994. However, the visitors were rolled over for a paltry 119.

Venkatapathy Raju picked up five wickets and Rajesh Chauhan three. Kapil Dev picked up only one wicket, that of Hashan Tillakaratne, but it was enough to take him past Hadlee’s record for most Test wickets.

Today in 1994 @ Ahmedabad against Sri Lanka: Kapil Dev became Test cricket's leading wicket-taker, when he claimed his 432nd wkt, going past Richard Hadlee.Today, 24 years later, with 434 Test wkts, Kapil is seventh overall in Tests & has the second highest tally by an Indian! pic.twitter.com/ucg2zS1BnP

— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) February 8, 2018

India’s response was led by skipper Mohammad Azharuddin, who blasted 152 in 260 balls. Vinod Kambli chipped in with 57 as India posted an impressive 358 runs on the board.

Sri Lanka failed again in their second innings, managing only 222, with Raju and Chauhan again starring with the ball, claiming six and three wickets respectively.

India won the Test by an innings and 17 runs, taking the series 3-0.