Coimbatore Taxi News Team

Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been banned for two one-day international matches for his team's slow over rate in Friday's second ODI against Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka squared the five-match series 1-1 by winning the day-night game in Nagpur by three wickets with five balls remaining.

The match ended 45 minutes after the scheduled time due to frequent discussions between the Indian players in the tight chase.

India were ruled to be three overs short of target, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said in a statement on Saturday.

"The captain receives two suspension points while the players are fined 10 percent of their match fees for the first two overs short and 20 percent for every additional over their side fails to bowl in the allotted time," the ICC said.

Two suspension points resulted in a ban of one test or two ODIs, depending on which came first for the player, the statement said.

"The India side was at par until the 42nd over but bowled only eight overs in the last hour which is unacceptable," match referee Jeff Crowe said in the statement.

Dhoni, who smashed a century on Friday, will miss the third and fourth matches in Cuttack on Monday and in Kolkata on Thursday. India named Virender Sehwag as stand-in captain.

The final match will be played in Delhi on Dec. 27.

Coimbatore Taxi News Team