Indians ready to make concession in ICC contract row

The Indian players in England are willing to request their television sponsors not to air ads which conflict with the interests of the tournament sponsors during the duration of the ICC Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka, India's Hindustan Times has reported. India - the last country to be holding out on the contracts - had earlier been advised by the ICC that a deadline of Friday had been set for the announcement of the Champions Trophy squad.

Player spokesman Ravi Shastri commented that the Indian players had agreed to make this concession in the interests of the game at large. "The players have decided in the interest of the game to back off for the period of 18 days during the ICC Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka next month and will speak to their sponsors on television ads, and hence will be available for selection," Shastri said.

He warned, though, that such concessions would not be agreed to in the future. "For the future though, the players will strongly recommend to the Board to give them a share of their profit which would be distributed among the international and national cricketers playing the game in India."

"The players have also strongly recommended floating of a players' representative body for better relationship between the Board and the players," said Shastri.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), faced with a dilemma, had actually named 25 probables for a provisional squad to the ICC Trophy, in the event that stars like Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Virender Sehwag - heavily marketed players in India - refused to participate.