India captain Sourav Ganguly has been suspended for two Tests for his team’s slow over-rate in the day-night match against Pakistan, match-referee Clive Lloyd announced here on Sunday.
The decision means Ganguly will miss the two-Test home series against South Africa, starting at Kanpur on Saturday.
The one-off one-dayer against Pakistan was played at the Eden Gardens on Saturday to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Indian cricket board.
Pakistan surpassed India’s total of 292-6 with six wickets and one over to spare to win the 50-over-a-side match which ended more than an hour after the scheduled time.
”The allotted three-and-a-half hours is ample time to bowl the required 50 overs. So captains need to ensure that all efforts are made to achieve this,” said Lloyd, a former West Indies captain.
”The ICC (International Cricket Council) code relating to over-rates needs to be strictly observed and it is important for all the stakeholders in the game to have matches finished on time.”
The match-referee found Ganguly guilty of breaching the clause C1 of the ICC code of conduct, which is a level two offence.
As it was Ganguly’s second such offence within a 12-month period, it was upgraded to level three which carries a suspension of two to four Test matches or four to eight one-dayers.
The Indian captain was first found guilty of the level two offence during the tour of Australia early this year.
Ganguly (32) was on Saturday named captain against Graeme Smith’s South African team after recovering from a groin injury, which had forced him to miss the last two Test matches against Australia.
The left-hander is one of the most prolific Indian batsmen, having scored 4Â 645 runs in 75 Tests with 11 centuries.
Meanwhile, the match-referee fined Pakistani batsman Yousuf Youhana and Indian fast bowler Irfan Pathan for an on-field argument during the match.
Youhana was fined 75% of his match-fee and Pathan 50%. – Sapa-AFP
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