Ganguly, Warne 10% fined for misconduct

NEW DELHI: Rival skippers Sourav Ganguly and Shane Warne were fined 10 per cent of their match fee on Wednesday and reprimanded for their conduct as the Indian Premier League continued to crack the whip on on-field indiscipline.
    
A day after the two veteran cricketers engaged in a public spat following the IPL match between their respecctive sides, the IPL was quick to punish the two captains and said it would not tolerate any indiscipline.
    
While Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Ganguly was penalised for forcing the on-field umpire to refer a contentious catch to the third umpire, Rajasthan Royals' captain Warne was punished for lambasting Ganguly's conduct in the post-match press conference.
    
The IPL also decided to suspend the on-field umpire in question, G Pratap Kumar, for a match.
    
"It has been informed by Farokh Engineer, the Referee in the IPL game between the Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur on May 1, that he has issued an official reprimand to Sourav Ganguly, and fined him 10 per cent of his match-fee for showing dissent on the field," IPL commissioner and chairman Lalit Modi said in a statement.
    
"The Referee has also suspended Pratap Kumar for one match, on the grounds that there was no reason for him to accede to Ganguly's request to consult the TV umpire," Modi added.
    
Modi said Warne crossed the line by commenting on Ganguly's conduct after the match.
    
"Shane Warne, captain of the Rajasthan Royals in the ongoing DLF Indian Premier League, has been reprimanded and fined 10 per cent of his match-fee by Match Referee Farokh Engineer," Modi explained.
    
"Warne was found guilty of violating Section 1.7 of the ICC's Code of Conduct, which deals with public criticism of, or inappropriate comment on a match-related incident or official. It constitutes a Level I offence," he added.
    
Warne had criticised Ganguly for going against the spirit of the game by not accepting fielder Graeme Smith's word on the controversial catch.
    
He also accused Ganguly of resorting to time-wasting tactics during the match.
    
Though the Royals decided against lodging a formal complaint against the former India skipper, the IPL decided to take action as "Ganguly's act of prevailing upon the on-field umpire to refer a decision to the TV umpire constitutes a Level I offence as per the ICCs Code of Conduct."
    
Ganguly, on his part, had laughed off Warne's criticism and said the Aussie tweaker should first look at his own record before commenting on his on-field behaviour.
    
"Look who is talking. He should look at his own record before commenting on me. I did not know that in cricket, claiming a dropped catch was in the spirit of the game," he had said.
    
This is the third case of IPL taking action against players' misconduct after a trouble-free opening week of the high-profile tournament.
    
The first player to be penalised for indiscipline during the event was Mumbai Indians' Harbhajan Singh, who slapped Kings XI Punjab pacer S Sreesanth after a match.
    
The off-spinner was banned from the entire tournament, while his India teammate Sreesanth was also warned for his behaviour. Later the umpire in the match Amish Saheba, who criticised Sreesanth's behaviour in the media, was also handed a two-match suspension.
    
"The objective is to play the game in the right spirit. It is important that players, officials and umpires know of it," Modi said.