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India granted Jadeja appeal

India have been allowed to appeal the guilty verdict against Ravindra Jadeja for his alleged role in the incident involving James Anderson at Trent Bridge

Sidharth Monga
Sidharth Monga
29-Jul-2014
India have been allowed to appeal the guilty verdict against Ravindra Jadeja for his alleged role in the confrontation involving James Anderson on the second day of the Trent Bridge Test*. The ICC confirmed on Wednesday that it had accepted the request "after receiving legal submissions from the BCCI".
Jadeja, who was charged by England under a Level 2 offence but found guilty by match referee David Boon of a lesser Level 1 offence, had originally not been allowed an appeal.
The BCCI involved its lawyers, though, and Jadeja's appeal will now be heard alongside Anderson's Level 3 hearing on Friday August 1 - the day after the completion of the third Investec Test. Cricinfo understands one possible legal submission might have been that India have appealed against the original Level 2 charge and not the Level 1 sentence.
The judicial commissioner listening to Anderson's case, Gordon Lewis, will also oversee Jadeja's appeal via videoconference. India will have Jadeja, MS Dhoni, their physiotherapist Evan Speechly and their coach Duncan Fletcher at the hearing, along with their lawyers.
On July 25, Jadeja was fined 50% of his match fee after being found guilty by Boon. The BCCI immediately made public its dissatisfaction with the verdict and said it reserved the right to appeal. Dhoni also passionately defended his team-mate.
According to the ICC's appeals process, penalties for a Level 1 offence were non-appealable, unless it was a second such penalty levied on the player within a 12-month period. Jadeja had been docked 10 per cent of his match fee for using offensive language against Shane Watson in an ODI in November 2013, but that was under section 2.1.4 of the code, while this is a level 2.1.8 offence, meaning that an appeal was initially ruled as invalid.
The incident involving Anderson and Jadeja is reported to have taken place as the players were leaving the field for lunch on the second day of the Trent Bridge Test. India alleged Anderson abused and pushed Jadeja, while England countered by claiming that Jadeja turned and approached Anderson in a threatening manner.
* July 30, 1.30pm: Story updated with confirmation after ICC release

Sidharth Monga is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo