India vice-captain Rahul Dravid expressed hope that the contentious contract issue will be resolved to everyone's satisfaction well before the 2003 World Cup in South Africa.

"I am sure the International Cricket Council and the Board of Control for Cricket in India will sit down and sort out the issues. I am sure the matter can be resolved," said the ace batsman on Tuesday, when his attention was drawn to Monday's meeting, in Kolkata, between the BCCI, ICC and players' representative Anil Kumble, on the vexed issue.

"We hope something will come through, but, to be frank, I have no clue as I'm so far away from home and have no idea what's happening."

Dravid said he wants to concentrate more on the current tour rather than anything else.

"I have not given it much thought leading up to this Test match," he said.

"This is a very important tour. We want to concentrate on this match [first Test] and we don't want distractions."

International cricket is currently bogged down with the players' contract issue as the ICC tries to secure protection for its sponsors against ambush marketing for next year's World Cup.

The Contract row - the complete coverage