ICC-BCCI agreement formalised

The agreement reached between the Board of Control for Cricket in India and the International Cricket Council, which enabled the participation of top Indian players in the Champions Trophy has now been formalised.

The redrafted version of the controversial sponsorship agreement has already been sent by the ICC to BCCI, said BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya in Kolkata.

The fresh agreement, which would be applicable only for the Champions Trophy, was finalised following an unprecedented global tele-conferencing involving the chiefs of the cricket Boards of all the full members of the ICC last evening.

Dalmiya also said that he had personally spoken to the Indian players in England after the matter was resolved and formally informed them about the resolution of the month-long crisis.

The dramatic resolution came almost in the eleventh hour as the BCCI was ready with an alternative second string team when ICC acceded to the Indian board's demand that it would not be saddled with the damages arising out of the changes made in the Players Terms for the Indian stars.

At the end it turned out to be a major victory for Dalmiya whose decision to go ahead with the meeting of the Selection Committee on Monday turned out to be a master-stroke forcing the ICC to go on the back-foot and accept the Indian Board's demand.

Meanwhile, the Sourav Ganguly led Indian squad has left England for Mumbai en route to Colombo. The team will be playing its first match in Champions Trophy against Zimbabwe on September 14.

Complete Coverage: The ICC Contract Row

Mail Cricket Editor