Ganguly’s plea rejected

Indian captain Sourav Ganguly’s appeal against a six-match ban imposed on him has been rejected by the ICC (International Cricket Council).

Ganguly was banned for six ODIs, after being found guilty of slow over rate during the fourth ODI, despite multitude of warnings, following which he appealed to the international body to reconsider their decision.

ICC had accepted Ganguly’s appeal for review and as per the clause allowed him to play while his plea is being considered. However, the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) opted to leave him out of the last two ODIs of the Pakistan series.

ICC chief Malcolm Speed has confirmed that Ganguly’s ban stays valid, although the two matches that Ganguly did miss will count towards the ban, which means he has to still sit out in four matches.

India now has a few months lay-off from international cricket, which means Ganguly will have to serve his ban when Sri Lanka tours India for an ODI series in August-September.