Sourav Ganguly Praises New ICC Rule Of Sending Off Players

Former India skipper Sourav Ganguly on Wednesday welcomed the new International Cricket Council (ICC) rule which will allow the umpire to send off a player for the rest of the match for any serious misconduct. Ganguly said that there are reasons why the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) introduced the rule. The new rule states, "Threatening to assault an umpire, making inappropriate and deliberate physical contact with an umpire, physically assaulting a player or any other person and committing any other act of violence all constitute Level 4 offences."

The new rule further states that the player will only be sent off the field if the misconduct applies to level 4 while level 1 to 3 offences will continue to be dealt with under the ICC Code of Conduct.

"...meaning it will apply to Level 4 offences while the Level 1 to 3 offences will continue to be dealt with under the ICC Code of Conduct," it said.

"It was introduced by the MCC and there are reasons for that. Lot of difficult situations occurred in low-level cricket outside India -- particularly in England or in South Africa. It is a good thing," Ganguly said.

The ICC's revamped rules will come into effect from September 28. It will bring about some interesting but not necessarily welcome changes in the way the sport is played.

However, the ongoing India-Australia limited-overs series will continue to be played as per the old rules. All of these rules will come into effect from the two upcoming Test series -- when South Africa host Bangladesh and Pakistan take on Sri Lanka in the United Arab Emirates.

(With inputs from agencies)