Warne shouldn't talk about the spirit of cricket - Ganguly

Sourav Ganguly, captain of the Kolkata Knight Riders, has dismissed Shane Warne's criticism of his on-field behaviour, even questioning his moral right to comment about the spirit of the game. Warne, leading the Rajasthan Royals, first slammed Ganguly for taking too long to come out to bat and then condemned his attitude towards the IPL's Spirit of Cricket agreement when he questioned a catch taken by Graeme Smith.

Ganguly, however, came down on heavy on Warne for criticising him. "Is complaining against a dropped catch against the spirit of the game? " he told Times Now, an Indian news channel. "We just need to look at Warne's career to understand that he has no moral right to teach what the spirit of the game is. I just want to laugh at what Warne is saying. He should not be talking about the spirit of the game.

"I told him [the umpire, GA Pratapkumar] the catch was not taken cleanly," added Ganguly. "Referring to the third umpire was his decision."

On Warne saying he arrived late, Ganguly replied: "The umpires have not told me anything so I don't know what Warney is trying to say."

Kolkata Knight Riders chief executive Joy Bhattacharya defended Ganguly's actions, saying they were well within the laws of the game. "He just appealed to the umpire to check if the catch (by Smith) was clean. We feel he was perfectly within his rights, if he had any doubt in his mind. And if the umpire on the field had turned around and said it was clean, that would have been the end of the story. He [Warne] is no stranger to controversy. For us to react would just give importance to Warne's comments."

Smith, who took the controversial catch at deep midwicket on the last ball of the 13th over, maintained that it was properly taken. "It was cleanly taken.....there is no doubt about that," he said. "The replay also suggests that the catch was clean. It's really nice to know your captain backing you during controversy."

"I have a good relationship with Graeme Smith and I have enough respect for him," said Ganguly. "I don't want to drag him into it. But the thing is in cases like this, often the fielder does not realise that he had actually taken a drop catch."

Meanwhile Pakistan fast bowler Umar Gul, who recently joined Kolkata, felt Ganguly's captaincy in Twenty20 cricket had a way to go. "This format is new for Ganguly. He is finding it difficult," Gul told PTI. "He has to learn a few more tricks. We also have to find the right combination and rhythm."

Kolkata have now lost three IPL matches in a row.