Indian captain Sourav Ganguly filed an appeal against his two-match ban by the International Cricket Council, and he will be allowed to play against South Africa this weekend.

　　Ganguly’s appeal against the ban will be heard by a New Zealand lawyer within seven days, the International Cricket Council said yesterday.

　　Tim Castle was sent the grounds of the appeal, paperwork from ICC match referee Clive Lloyd and a video of the match to his home in Wellington, New Zealand. If the appeal hearing isn?t completed before the start of India’s first test against South Africa on Saturday, Ganguly will be able to play.

　　Castle, a judge and arbitrator on the Court of Arbitration for Sport, has the power to increase, decrease or amend the penalty or otherwise substitute his own decision for that of Lloyd.

　　Ganguly was suspended on Sunday for two test matches because of India’s slow bowling overrate in Saturday’s limited-over international against Pakistan in Calcutta.

　　The ICC’s match referee Clive Lloyd penalized Ganguly for the violation of the players? code of conduct, in which the skipper is deemed responsible for his team’s slow bowling.

　　He is permitted to play international cricket pending the outcome of the appeal, the ICC said.

　　Each team is given 3-1/2 hours to bowl 50 overs during a one-day international, but the Indian bowlers took an hour extra to deliver 49 overs. Pakistan triumphed by six wickets in the one-off encounter.

　　Lloyd, a former West Indies captain, conducted a disciplinary hearing and found Ganguly guilty of not being able to push his bowlers to deliver the overs quickly. India’s cricket board said on Monday the two-match ban was harsh, and did not take into account the reasons behind the slow overrate that led to the suspension.

　　India says Pakistan opener Salman Butt’s injury, his asking for a runner, and the wet outfield that resulted in the ball being changed all were responsible for the delay.

　　(The Associated Press)