ICC extends deadline to Saturday

The International Cricket Council will give India one last chance to save the first Test against England at Mohali.

At a news conference at Lord's on Thursday evening, ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed said India will have to decide by the end of Saturday whether to include Virender Sehwag or not in the team for the Test.

Speed informed that there had been long telephone calls involving himself, ICC president Malcolm Gray and Board of Control for Cricket in India president Jagmohan Dalmiya in the last two days, but no solution was in sight.

He said: "The barometer of my optimism has gone up and down in the last 48 hours. There have been times when I thought there was no chance of resolving the issue and times when I thought there was a good chance."

He said he and Gray had been persuaded by Dalmiya to move the deadline beyond the original Friday noon cut-off.

"We don't want this going down to the last moment -- the team being presented to the opposing captain just before the toss with an excited cricket ground full of fans.

"If the match is to be cancelled it must happen well before the proposed start of play on Monday.

"We have looked at a number of options but I think you would be surprised, if you had access to the discussions that have taken place, at the options we've looked at."

Asked if there would be a compromise that would allow Sehwag play the match, Speed replied: "That is not something that is acceptable to the ICC."

Earlier, the ICC, in a statement, said it had made three written offers to the BCCI "in an effort to reach a sensible resolution to the matter".

It also offered to hold a meeting with Dalmiya in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

England have said it would have no option but to withdraw from the first Test if the 23-year-old batsman is selected.

Sehwag has played in just two Tests and hit a century on his debut against South Africa. But in the second match at Port Elizabeth, he was one of six Indians, which included master batsman Sachin Tendulkar, disciplined by match referee Mike Denness.

The Mike Denness controversy