As things stand, Sourav Ganguly is most likely to play the first Test at Kanpur against the touring South Africans despite the suspension handed to him by match referee Clive Lloyd. This is not the first instance when a Referee has reprimanded Ganguly. And the way he plays the game, it certainly won't be the last. An overtly expressive cricketer, Ganguly has been fined for showing dissent, excessive appealing and maintaining slow over-rates during matches.

There is no doubt that Ganguly was extremely slow in finishing off the proceedings at Kolkata. Even with the constant delays and dew factor, extending play by almost an hour and a half is totally unacceptable. But the question to be asked here is did Clive Lloyd have to take such a harsh step especially in this game. Whatever the rules may say, at the end of the day, it was a goodwill one-day international between two cricket-crazy nations. True, it was an official ODI, but with such a 'feel good' factor surrounding the match, couldn't Lloyd have avoided taking such a drastic step? Had common sense prevailed, things would have gone on smoothly and Indians would have been appreciating Pakistan's gesture of coming over for the one-off game. But now, Lloyd dominates the minds of the Indians, for whom he has become a villain of sorts. It was just a one-off game to celebrate 75 years of the BCCI, the richest cricketing body in the world. The crowd enjoyed a great game and went back, if not pleased then atleast satisfied, having seen some great batting from both sides.

If it was a one-day tournament or a Test series, then one could have understood Lloyd's actions. But reprimanding Ganguly and fining Pathan and Youhana doesn't make much sense. What difference would it have made if Lloyd had allowed the players to get away with a few misdemeanours considering the great occasion on which the game was being played?
 

A cricket match is often remembered for the wrong reasons when a Match Referee intervenes in the game. The Mike Denness fiasco is a classic example. The huge furore it created made all the headlines, while there was precious little being written about the contest between bat and ball. India's tour of South Africa in 2001-02 was marred completely by that incident. Certainly, the Platinum Jubilee Match didn't deserve such a fate. Clive Lloyd might have been a great cricketer in his era, but this action makes one believe that he doesn't have a sense of occasion. A more sensible referee could have done a better job ignoring things.

 

Having said this, Ganguly dug his own grave, as he has innumerable times since taking over as captain. As the leader of the Indian outfit, it is his responsibility to see that the match finishes on time as often as possible. But as mentioned earlier, he too might never have expected such a verdict for this one-off game against their arch-rivals. He has to be careful now onwards or else, there will be more suspensions in store in the future. India certainly cannot afford to lose him time and again. In his absence, Rahul Dravid has to handle the extra burden of captaincy and in the short time that he has done this duty, his leadership skills have been impressive. But during this period, his batting has been slack to say the least, and this has hurt India.

The fact that people are discussing Ganguly's suspension instead of praising the BCCI's effort in organising such a wonderful event means the former West Indian great has imposed himself on the game for all the wrong reasons. It's really sad that what was supposed to be a festival game would now be in the news for all the wrong reasons.
 

One doesn't want to sound biased. But match referees haven't really been kind to the Indians over the past few years. Mike Denness could only see Indian fielders appealing excessively while the South Africans could jump up and down non-stop and still get away without being punished. Ganguly's actions are seen as showing dissent but when the likes of McGrath and co abuse the umpire, no one is concerned. Double standards do exist in world cricket and unfortunately, India have been on the receiving end far too often of late. So who'll fine the match referees for their prejudiced behaviour?