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Ganguly loses appeal against six-match ban

India captain Saurav Ganguly has lost his appeal with the International Cricket Council (ICC) against a six-match ban for his side's slow over rates in two one-day internationals against Pakistan earlier this month.

ICC appeals commissioner Michael Beloff endorsed the decision of match referee Chris Broad to find Ganguly guilty after India exceeded the allotted time to complete their overs for the second successive game in Ahmedabad last Tuesday.

Ganguly, under pressure to hold his place in the India team because of poor batting form, was banned for six one-day games after the last-ball defeat to Pakistan in Ahmedabad. He missed the last two games of the series.

Ganguly said he would discuss the issue with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). India tour Sri Lanka in August for a one-day tri-series also involving West Indies.

"I'll use this time to practice hard and get back to form," he told reporters in Calcutta on Monday.

"I have received the (rejection) letter from ICC. I think the board has also received it.

"I haven't talked to the BCCI as yet. I can only decide on the next step after talking to the board."

Beloff considered comprehensive written submissions from Ganguly and the match officials but ruled the legal arguments put forward did not have sufficient merit to overturn the initial decision.

"Cricket is a game played in all kinds of climates; it cannot be right that the mere fact of the heat and humidity will excuse a failure to achieve the minimum over rate," Beloff said in an ICC statement.

"The appellant was notified that India bowled with no energy, and he (Ganguly) was, as captain, clearly being held responsible for that underperformance which itself was said to be the cause of the failure to achieve the minimum over rate."

ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed said Ganguly's ban would start retroactively with the last two one-dayers of the series between India and Pakistan that ended on Sunday.

Pakistan crushed India by 159 runs in the sixth and final one-dayer in New Delhi on Sunday to clinch the series 4-2.

Ganguly was fined for a similar offence during India's 106-run defeat in the third game in Jamshedpur.

Last November, Ganguly was given a two-test ban for his team's slow over rate during a one-day defeat against Pakistan in Calcutta but successfully appealed the decision.