IPL shuts door on Ganguly, bans Pandey for 4 matches

Mumbai, Feb 4 (PTI) Former India captain Sourav Gangulywill not be part of IPL-4 starting on April 8 and Karnatakabatsman Manish Pandey cannot play the first four matches forhis new franchise Sahara Pune Warriors for breaching playerguidelines, the league''s Governing Council said today.

IPL''s Governing Council stalled what could have been aback-door entry for Ganguly after he was left unsold at theplayers'' auction in Bangalore at a base price of USD 400,000.

"Based on the views from Franchisees, IPL GoverningCouncil decided not to make available the unsold IndianPlayers from the auction," said a release from Cricket Board''ssecretary N Srinivasan who is a member of the GC as an officebearer of the Board.

That effectively dashed the hopes of not only Ganguly,who went unsold at the two-day auction on January 8 and 9, butalso those of two other capped players - Wasim Jaffer and V RV Singh - who will not feature in the April 8-May 28tournament.

Speaking to reporters after a marathon meeting of theGoverning Council, chairman Chirayu Amin said Ganguly wouldnot be part of IPL-4 following the objection raised by a fewfranchises to a request from one franchise which wasinterested in buying the Bengal stalwart outside the auction.

"We had received a request from one franchise (Kochi)that Ganguly should be allowed to be purchased outside theauction and rejected it after objections were raised by someother franchises," Amin said.

IPL rules state that no capped player can be boughtoutside the players'' auction after he has been part of theprocess. (More) PTI SSR VKV PDS