Umpire Nigel Llong kicks door during IPL game, pays for damages

Nigel Llong, a member of the ICC's elite panel of umpires, damaged a door to the umpire's room at Bengaluru's M Chinnaswamy Stadium during Royal Challengers Bangalore's final home game against Sunrisers Hyderabad on May 4. Llong has since paid for the damages and the matter has been reported to the BCCI's Committee of Administrators.

It is understood that Llong kicked the door after the first innings of the match, which included a final-over no-ball he had called off Umesh Yadav's bowling, although replays suggested that the delivery was legal. After the delivery, Llong had a discussion with Virat Kohli and Umesh when the giant screens at the ground showed that the bowler had not overstepped.

Llong did not change his decision despite protests from both bowler and captain. The incorrect decision effectively added five runs to Sunrisers' total, with the extra final delivery of the innings being hit for four. The error, however, did not hurt Royal Challengers as they won the match with four balls to spare.

Llong then returned to the umpires' room, where the door-kicking incident took place. Although the door was dented and cracked, the glass panel at the top did not break. The nature of the offence, however, forced Karnataka State Cricket Association to report the matter to the Committee of Administrators after consultation with match referee V Narayan Kutty.

"It was an unfortunate incident," KSCA secretary R Sudhakar Rao told 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."

Llong, 50, was asked to pay for the damages, which he did after the match.

"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.