NEW DELHI, 30 July 2005 — Sourav Ganguly will return to international cricket next week after his ban for slow over rates was cut from six matches to four, the Indian cricket board said yesterday
Ganguly, 33, will join his teammates in Sri Lanka on Monday and will be available for the later stages of a one-day tri-series also featuring the West Indies, cricket board official Gautam Dasgupta said.
“We are making arrangements to fly him to Sri Lanka by Aug. 1,” Dasgupta said.
The former India captain was handed the six-match ban by match referee Chris Broad during a one-day series against Pakistan at home in April, a decision upheld by the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) appeals commissioner Michael Beloff.
But the Indian board asked the ICC for arbitration, citing flaws in the process by which the charge and the appeal were heard.
Independent arbitrator Justice Albie Sachs of South Africa on Thursday upheld the ICC’s Code of Conduct and the process used to charge Ganguly, but decided the original six-match ban was too severe.
Ganguly, who missed two one-dayers against Pakistan in April due to the ban, will also sit out India’s opening matches in Dambulla against Sri Lanka on Saturday and the West Indies on Sunday.
But the left-hander, who was provisionally selected as the 16th member of the touring party led by Rahul Dravid, will be available for the second leg of the league and the final on Aug. 9.
With tournament rules allowing a maximum of 15 players in a squad, it was still unclear which player would be excluded to accommodate Ganguly. A veteran of 271 one-dayers, Ganguly requires only 33 runs to become the third batsman after compatriot Sachin Tendulkar and Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul Haq to complete 10,000 runs in the shorter version of the game.
His 22 limited-overs centuries are second only to Tendulkar’s record tally of 38.
India need Ganguly’s experience at the top of the order in the absence of Tendulkar, who is nursing an elbow injury.
Ganguly, India’s most successful captain till he was replaced by Dravid in April following the ban, said he was willing to play under anyone.
“I did not expect the ban will be reduced so much,” he told reporters in Kolkata.
“My only aim as a cricketer is to play for the country and it does not matter whether I am captain or not.
“I do not mind playing under anybody — be it Dravid or (Virender) Sehwag or Harbhajan (Singh).” The Indian team management of Dravid and new coach Greg Chappell welcomed Ganguly’s return.
“I am happy for Sourav. I don’t know when he is coming but he is very welcome to join the team,” media reports quoted Dravid as saying from Dambulla.
Chappell, the former Australian batting great on his first tour with the Indian team, was elated at the developments.
“Justice Sachs has shown Solomon’s wisdom,” Chappell was quoted as saying.
“The award comes as a bonus as we did not have Sourav in our plans. Now, we have his experience to look forward to.”
New Zealand Struggling to Field
Side in Namibia
In Wellington, New Zealand are struggling to field a full team for their two one-day matches in Namibia after a three-day national strike in South Africa delayed the arrival of several players.
The Kiwis are preparing for their tour of Zimbabwe with a training camp in Namibia which includes two one-day matches in Windhoek today and tomorrow.
Five of the players joining the squad from Britain have been delayed in South Africa.
Team manager Lindsay Crocker told New Zealand’s Radio Sport they had nine players available for the first match today and were likely to draw on locals if the remaining squad members failed to arrive on time.
He added the squad had six management personnel to call on if needed. Coach John Bracewell is a former New Zealand Test player while Crocker has played first class cricket. New Zealand arrive in Harare next week for their two-Test tour of Zimbabwe.
They will also play a one-day triangular series which also includes India.
Meantime, Australia cricket coach John Buchanan is hoping to meet up with Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson for a brainstorming session.
Buchanan, renowned for his innovative thinking, said: “We don’t know until we get there if we can learn something from them or they can learn something from us.”
“Hopefully, it’s a two-way street,” he told the Australian Associated Press (AAP). “There are different levels of exchange and how that benefits you. You sit back and reflect a little bit about some of the things that they do and how that might work in your team.” The 52-year-old Buchanan, whose side won the first test of the five-match Ashes series against England last week, is always keen to find ways to improve his world champions.
He has previously hired a baseball coach to work on Australia’s fielding. During the 2001 Ashes, he discussed the teaching of the Chinese warlord Sun Tzu with his players.
