Leicestershire hit with 27-point penalty and £5,000 fine after Sourav Ganguly biopic shoot disrupts pitch preparation

English county club Leicestershire have been hit with a severe 27-point penalty and a £5,000 fine after being found guilty of breaching pitch regulations during their County Championship fixture against Glamorgan in August.

The Cricket Discipline Panel imposed the sanction after the pitch at Grace Road was rated "poor" during Leicestershire's 42-run victory between August 20 and 23. Match referee Ian Ramage cited dangerous moving cracks and recorded 43 instances of uneven bounce across the match. As a result, the club was stripped of the 19 points earned from the win, handed an immediate eight-point deduction, and received an additional eight-point deduction suspended until the end of the 2027 season.

Groundsman Blames Bollywood Filming and Extreme Heat

In his submission to the Cricket Regulator, Leicestershire head groundsman Callum Lewin explained that an unexpected Bollywood film shoot—reportedly for the biopic of former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly—severely disrupted pitch maintenance just days ahead of the match.

"It's a used pitch this time around. We had two T20s on it 10 weeks ago. There were a lot of circumstances leading up to the game that were just out of my control, such as the weather was 35 degrees," Lewin explained. "We also had an unscheduled Bollywood filming event four days before (the match vs Glamorgan), and I wasn't allowed to work on the pitch. I wasn't allowed to cover it or anything."

Disciplinary Panel Rejects Defense

Despite acknowledging that Leicestershire had not intentionally produced a substandard surface, the disciplinary panel dismissed the single-day film shoot as a valid mitigating factor, ruling that the club’s approach to pitch preparation was "unreasonable."

The massive points deduction severely threatens Leicestershire's battle to avoid relegation from Division One. The club stated that it is considering its legal options during the 10-day appeal window.

"The Club notes the Cricket Discipline Panel’s decision, which imposes an eight-point deduction, an additional eight-point deduction suspended until the end of the 2027 season, and a financial penalty of 5,000 pounds. Having received the Panel's decision, the Club is reviewing its position and considering all available options," the county club said in an official statement.