Bengal players rush to Ganguly's defence

The one-match ban that has been enforced by match referee Barry Jarman on the Indian captain Sourav Ganguly has come in for criticism from some of leading cricketers in Calcutta. Ganguly was suspended for one match because of his aggressive appealing on four consecutive deliveries against Mlulei Nkala of Zimbabwe. All the appeals were turned down by umpire PC Sathe.

Ashok Malhotra, who is one of the members of the national selection committee, said on Wednesday, "Cricket is no more a gentleman's game. All the norms are not followed. Players these days tend to appeal aggressively. So Ganguly as the leader of the team has done just that. He wanted the team to play aggressive cricket. I would like him to continue in the same manner."

On the other hand, former India opener Gopal Bose felt that there is a racial bias involved when punishments are meted out. "You will see for yourself that most of the time it is the cricketers from the Asian sub-continent who are singled out for punishment. The Australians lead the field as far as sledging and aggressive appealing are concerned. How many times are they pulled up?" Bose also added, "The best umpires should be on the field. Everybody saw the mistakes that the umpire has made."

Ganguly's compatriot in the Bengal team, Utpal Chatterjee also felt that the punishment could have been avoided. "He reacted more out of frustration than out of anything else. He never tried to abuse the umpire." Overall, the reaction in the city has been that Ganguly has been wrongly punished. In fact, a large number of local cricketers felt that the Zimbabwe medium pacer Bryan Strang should have also been punished for imitating Ganguly and later on for getting involved in a verbal duel.