India's cricket board said the two-match ban imposed on skipper Sourav Ganguly by the International Cricket Council was harsh and did not take into view the reasons behind the slow over-rate that resulted in the suspension.

Ganguly was suspended for two Test matches due to India's slow bowling rate in Saturday's limited-over international against Pakistan in Calcutta.

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

"We feel the decision is too harsh," said Ranbir Mahendra, the Indian cricket board's president.

Mahendra said he was awaiting a formal communication from the ICC before appealing the verdict that ruled Ganguly out of the two-Test series against South Africa starting Saturday.

"There's no official communication ... whatever has come to us is through the media," the Press Trust of India quoted Mahendra as saying in the northern Indian city of Jaipur.

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.

The match was played to celebrate the Indian cricket board's 75th anniversary.

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.

"The ICC code relating to overrates needs to be strictly observed and it is important for all the stake holders in the game to have matches finished on time," Lloyd had said in a statement.

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