T20 WC: Nitin Menon to officiate in Afghan-SA semifinal

Arnos Vale (St Vincent), June 25: As the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 heads towards the business end, the on-field umpires for the two semifinals have been named. 

According to the ICC announcement, Chris Gaffaney of New Zealand and Australia's Rodney Tucker will be the on-field umpires when India take on England in the second semifinal on Thursday.

Indian umpire Nitin Menon will officiate in the first semifinal along with England's Richard Illingworth as field umpires on Wednesday. 

Reigning champions England booked their place in the final four with a 10-wicket win against co-hosts USA, while India put the finishing touches to a perfect Super 8s stage with a 24-run win over Australia.

Joel Wilson will be the TV Umpire for a re-run of the 2022 semifinal in Sydney, which saw England come out on top, with Paul Reiffel in place as the fourth umpire in Guyana on June 27.

Earlier, Illingworth and Nitin Menon were named the on-field umpires when Afghanistan make history by playing in their first ICC Men’s T20 World Cup semifinal, the ICC announced on Tuesday.

An eight-run win against Bangladesh, via DLS, secured safe passage from the Super 8s at Australia’s expense.

Afghanistan play South Africa in Trinidad on Wednesday night, with a place in Saturday’s final on the line. South Africa are looking to secure a maiden ICC Men’s T20 World Cup final appearance.

Richard Kettleborough will be the TV Umpire, with Ahsan Raza in place as the Fourth Umpire.

For experienced Indian umpire Menon, it would be a great honour to officiate in a World Cup semifinal. If India fail to enter the final, then it is very likely that he may be picked to officiate in the final as well.

However, Menon may enjoy India winning the trophy rather than him officiating in the final. (With IANS support)