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InDepth headlines national business sports cricket regional entertainment technology world travel autos health | in-depth coverage > India-Pakistan Cricket Series 2005 > Viswanath terms decision against Ganguly as 'harsh' 23.27 IST 03rd May 2005 By Agencies 
Batting legend and former ICC match referee G.R. Viswanath on Monday termed the six-match ban against Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly as a 'harsh decision' and advised the southpaw to have confidence and go through long net sessions to come out of the lean phase.''The match referees have to go through ICC guidelines. Ganguly was already warned a couple of times. In the previous match also, he was fined. But I think the six-match ban is harsh,'' Viswanath, who arrived for a two-day coaching session at the Eastern Zonal Cricket Academy in Kolkata, said. While stating that the same offence of slow over rate committed by the Indian team in the third ODI against Pakistan might have had a bearing on match referee Chris Broad's decision after the fourth ODI, Viswanath said if he were in Broad's place, ''probably I would have given a four-match ban''. Ganguly was banned for six ODIs for his team's slow over rate in the fourth ODI against Pakistan in Ahmedabad. He was also fined 70 per cent of match fees for the same offence in the third ODI at Jamshedpur. On the skipper's poor form with the bat, the former batting ace said ''he (Ganguly) must have confidence in himself and go through serious net sessions. He may also ask somebody to point out the mistakes, if any, and rectify those at the nets.'' Viswanath, however, asked the skipper not to worry about criticisms levelled by some former players and the media. ''Forget about former cricketers and the media. Don't worry for that. Just think how you can come out of the bad phase,'' he said while exuding confidence that ''a single big score can help him (Ganguly) get back his form''. Viswanath, now on a BCCI assignment as specialist batting coach of the National Cricket Academy for Under-19 boys, however, cautioned Ganguly not to think that ''everybody goes through this sort of bad phase and so am I. Rather he should concentrate on the net sessions''. Commenting on the debate over the foreign coaches issue, Viswanath said, Indian coaches could also do the job well. ''Why not Indian coaches?'' he asked but added ''it also depends on their availability as former cricketers like Kapil (Dev) and Sunil (Gavaskar) have their own assignments''. Asked if he would accept any possible offer to coach the Indian side, Viswanath said owing to the ICC assignments during the past few years, he did not have much opportunity to follow the Indian cricket. However, with the current job as the NCA coach, he would be able to get some insight. ''But it will take some time. Perhaps its too early for the Indian Board to think of me''. Besides, Viswanath, whose term as the ICC match referee ended last month, was also looking forward to the ICC Executive Board meeting to be held in Dubai soon to finalise the new panel of match referees and umpires. To a query, he hailed the current Australian squad for maintaining high standard of the game, but declined to compare it with the Clive Lloyd-led West Indian team. in-depth coverage > India-Pakistan Cricket Series 2005 > |
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