Mumbai:Cracking the whip, the Indian Premier League on Friday slapped a four-match ban on young Karnataka batsman Manish Pandey, who has been signed up by Sahara Pune Warriors for the fourth season of the T20 league, for breaching its guidelines. IPL's Governing Council also stalled what couldhave been a back-door entry for former India captain Sourav Ganguly after he was left unsold at the January 8-9 Players' Auction in Bangalore at a base price of $ 400,000. Speaking to reporters after a marathon meeting of the T20 League's Governing Council, chairman Chirayu Amin said that Pandey, through his agent, had haggled with several franchises.
"Pandey's agent was negotiating with a number of franchises," was how Amin put it.
He also said that Ganguly would not be part of IPL-4 following the objection raised by a few franchises to a request from one franchise which was interested in buying the Bengal stalwart outside the auction.
IPL rules state that no capped player can be bought outside the players' auction after he has been part of the process.
"We had received a request from one franchise (Kochi) that Ganguly should be allowed to be purchased outside the auction and rejected it after objections were raised by some other franchises," Amin said.
About the outcome of the meeting and the decisions taken, Amin said it was a long one (lasting four and a half hours) as there were several items on the agenda.
"It was a long meeting as the agenda was big. We discussed about so many practicalities of (conducting) IPL4, entertainment, logistics and other things," he said.
Sources in the Pune franchise said Pandey had given a signed affidavit to the IPL that he would play for them this season.
