Sachin, Sehwag, Ganguly penalised

In an unprecedented and highly controversial action, six Indian players, including skipper Sourav Ganguly and master batsman Sachin Tendulkar, were on Monday night handed down harsh punishments by the match-referee for the second India-South Africa Test in Port Elizabeth in South Africa.

Virender Sehwag was suspended for the third Test to be played at Centurion Park from November 24 on the charge of excessive appealing. This means that Sehwag, who made a century on his debut in the first Test, will miss the final match of the series.

Sachin Tendulkar was found guilty of ball tampering and handed down a suspended one-match sentence and fined 75 per cent of his match-fee. He will, therefore, be able to play in the third Test, but would be banned for one match if he repeats the offence.

The match-referee, former England captain Mike Denness, is believed to have conveyed the decisions to the Indian team management after two meetings with Sachin Tendulkar.

Denness summoned Ganguly, who was accused of failing to control his players, as also four other Indian players - Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh, Shiv Sunder Das and wicket-keeper Deep Dasgupta - and warned them for excessive appealing.

Denness, who consulted ICC headquarters in London during the day, is expected to formally announce his decisions on Tuesday.

PTI