Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was today banned for two one-day internationals for the team's slow over-rate during the second one-dayer against Sri Lanka here yesterday.
The thrilling second one-dayer ended about 45 minutes after the scheduled finish time because of frequent discussions between the Indian players during the closing stages of Sri Lanka's chase, prompting the International Cricket Council to impose the ban on the Indian captain.
The decision to ban Dhoni was taken by match referee Jeff Crowe of New Zealand, considering the quantum of extra time the Indians took to complete their alloted overs.
Formal announcement from the ICC is expected soon.
It was still not known whether the two-match ban would come into effect immediately.