Match referee cautions Indians

The touring Indian team has been cautioned against over-appealing and remonstrating against decisions unfavourable to it in the current Test series in Zimbabwe.

Match referee Denis Lindsay called Indian captain Sourav Ganguly, vice-captain Rahul Dravid, and coach John Wright, for an unofficial briefing at the end of the second day's play in Bulawayo yesterday. "There is no official warning as such," said Lindsay. "Only a time to re-emphasize the kind of conduct we expect in the middle."

Lindsay's move is seen as an attempt to ward off things getting out of hand in the ongoing series. Though there weren't any particularly ugly scenes in the middle, the Indians did appear to over-appeal and remonstrate on a few occasions with the umpires.

Though Lindsay tried to downplay the event, the time he spent with the Indian team management in his room suggested the match referee had a lot of points to make.