The already battered Indian team may find itself in a new controversy, with the match-referee for the India-Zimbabwe tie reportedly finding the bats of skipper Sourav Ganguly and Virender Sehwag "broader" than the prescribed limits.

As the Indians were preparing to take on the hosts in a crucial World Cup tie, match referee Clive Lloyd is believed to have checked the bats of players of both the teams and found at least seven of them using willows that exceeded the International Cricket Council's specifications by five millimetres.

Among the seven was Zimbabwe's Craig Wishart, but details about the identity of the other four were not available.

According to ICC rules, if a cricketer is found guilty of using non-standardised equipment, he can be deemed to have sought an unfair advantage and even be banned.

The surprise check sent the Indians scurrying for remedial action and Terry Nicholls, a Zimbabwean national selector, agreed to help them out by getting their bats shaved to the required specifications.

Nicholls, it is learnt, asked Ganguly to leave the over-sized bats at the conference room of the hotel for him to pick up and carry out the necessary trimming.

But once Stevens arrived at the hotel, he searched in vain for the bats and his attempts to get in touch with Ganguly also did not materialise.

"I am terribly disappointed with the Indian captain. Apparently he left the bats at the conference room and then took them all away. My attempts to get in touch with Ganguly didn't bear fruit either," Stevens said.

Team sources said they are aware of the issue and the players had taken necessary precaution.

They said the over-size was only marginal and the boys would use sand paper to rectify the specifications.