BCCI seeks legal opinion over Ganguly ban

Sourav Ganguly: time to cool off after a difficult season © Getty Images

The Indian board has suggested that it will seek legal opinion over the six-match ban imposed on Sourav Ganguly for India's slow over-rates in the one-day series against Pakistan. "We are getting the issue legally examined," Ranbir Singh Mahendra, the president-elect of the BCCI, was quoted by Indo-Asian News Service. "We will do as our counsels advise."

Ganguly was handed the ban by Chris Broad, the match referee, after India fell behind in the over-rates during two consecutive matches of the one-day series, at Jamshedpur and at Ahmedabad. He then lost his appeal against the verdict when Michael Beloff QC, the ICC appeals commissioner, ruled that Broad's decision was justified. Ganguly missed the last two games of the series, and will miss most of the triangular tournament in Sri Lanka in August if the decision stays.

Radha Rangaswamy, a BCCI counsel, indicated that the board needed to spell out the next course of action. "They have to tell us [about exploring the legal option] after their meeting, possibly, by the end of this month."

Speaking to the media before leaving on a vacation to Europe, Ganguly himself stated that the matter was now in the board's hands. "The matter is not in my hands. I have left it to the board. They'll do whatever is necessary. There is no hurry. There is time till July. The BCCI bosses will take an appropriate decision in due time."

When asked for his opinion on who might be India's next coach, Ganguly's reply was quite non-committal: "There is a six-member team to select the new coach. I am not in any way involved in influencing their choice. I have no opinion on the selection."

Ganguly is expected to catch a few days of action at the French Open Tennis Championships in Paris, and is scheduled to return home on June 10.