Ganguly, Warne fined 10 per cent match fee; Umpire suspended

Jaipur, May 2 (UNI) Kolkata Knight Riders captain Sourav Ganguly and Rajasthan Royals captain Shane Warne have been fined 10 per cent of their match fee on account of violating the code of conduct of ICC, said Lalit Modi, IPL commissioner here today.

Lalit Modi said, ''the decision has been taken by the IPL governing body which met here today to discuss the incident which occured in the match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals yesterday.'' ''Umpire G Pratap Kumar has also been suspended for one match,'' he added.

Modi said, ''Sourav Ganguly has been fined under clause 1.3 of the ICC code of conduct as he had no right to pressurise the umpire.

He was charged with showing dissent to an umpire's decision. He is therefore fined 10 per cent of his match fee while Shane Warne has been fined for publically criticising Ganguly.'' Ganguly, who did not seem convinced with a catch taken by Rajasthan Royals' Graeme Smith in yesterday's match, asked umpire Kumar to refer the decision to third umpire.

Asad Rauf, the third umpire, however, went with Ganguly and ruled him not out after watching the inconclusive replays several times.

Modi further added,''Similarly Mr Shane Warne in his press conference yesterday, breached the ICC rules under Level 1 offence and he, therefore, has been reprimanded.

''The objective of the IPL is to play with the spirit of cricket and under the ICC's rules. Mr Shane Warne's was found to have breached level 1 clause 1.17, which is public criticism of any player or match official,'' he said.

He said the umpire was suspended because he did not consult the leg umpire and directly refered the issue to third umpire to seek a decision over Ganguly's catch taken by Graeme Smith.

He further added that, ''the umpire was unaware of the rules and regulations to this effect that is why he has been suspended.'' Modi said the IPL governing body has decided to impose a fine of 500 dollars over a team who fails to maintain the required over rate in the match.

''It has been decided that the skipper of the paricipating teams will not speak to the media except prior to the match and after the match.

Modi, however, made it clear that banned speedster Shoiab Akthar will not be allowed to play in the IPL until Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) allow him to play.

Replying to a question the IPL commissioner said that Kolkata Knight Riders can include another player in place of Chris Gayle who got injured and is not fit to play now.

Earlier yesterday, match referee Farokh Engineer was seen moving around wearing Rajasthan Royals uniform, Modi said the matter has come to his notice and the board will look into it.

He expressed his surprise over Rajasthan Royals', who were rated as the underdogs in the tournament, outstanding performance saying that, ''Shane Warne's leadership has done wonders for the team.'' UNI MY RAR RKM KN1912