Sourav loses appeal but Dalmiya says match not over yet

It was all a long way from the tightrope ride of his cricketing life, and the rollercoaster ride of today. This morning, he heard that the ICC’s appeals commissioner Michael Beloff had rejected his appeal against a six-match ban citing ‘‘lack of merit’’.

With two matches served, it meant that he’d miss the next international series, a triangular in Sri Lanka also involving the West Indies.

Then came the BCCI’s official reaction, markedly more muted than on earlier occasions. The ICC, said its vice-president Rajiv Shukla, ‘‘should have been more considerate’’. Then he added, ‘‘All I can say is it is not good for Ganguly’s career as he will be deprived of playing four more matches in the next series.’’

Eventually it was left to his close ally Jagmohan Dalmiya to come to his defence. ‘‘This match isn’t over yet’’, he said with typical pugnacity, and sources close to him said Ganguly would contest Beloff’s decision at the International Court of Arbitration in Lausanne.

And so while his teammates were coming to terms with an embarrassing series defeat to Pakistan, Ganguly spent the day huddled with Dalmiya — in his capacity as Cricket Association of Bengal chief — at the residence of noted barrister Siddhartha Shankar Ray.

It was Ray who had successfully defended Ganguly the last time around, in November 2004, getting the ICC to annul a two-Test ban for a similar offence. This time Team Ganguly will proceed slowly and deliberately, given that there are three months before the next ODI series, a triangular tournament in Sri Lanka in July/August.

It may not be so easy this time. In his 23-page-judgement, Beloff said ‘‘the appellant was notified that India bowled with no energy; and he was, as captain, clearly being held responsible for that under-performance which itself was said to be the cause of the failure to achieve the minimum over rate’’.

Beloff also did not accept the argument put forward that heat was the reason for the failure to achieve the minimum over rates. ‘‘Cricket is a game played in all kinds of climates; it cannot be right that the mere fact of the heat and humidity will excuse a failure to achieve the minimum over rate’’, he said.

For the record, the auction — for charity body Cricket For A Cause — aimed at providing financial support to groundsmen, coaches and victims of the Tsunami. Memorabilia belonging to Ganguly’s teammates Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid, and to international cricketers including Inzamam-ul Haq, went under the hammer.

Ganguly’s autographed bat went for Rs 1 lakh. His captaincy of the national team is under a cloud but Maharaj, as he’s nicknamed, is still the Prince of Kolkata.