The ICL business head Himanshu Mody told media that Zee backed cricket league is far from closing down and it is actually being wooed by the BCCI for making up with the official guardian of Indian cricket.
Rumors have been making rounds for past few weeks. Has the pinch of recession gone too hard for India’s rebel cricket league that it is considering a close down! But at the peak of the rumors, ICL issues a statement to inform the cricket news media that neither the league lacks resources nor has it got any plan for closing down ICL. They are as committed to holding twenty-20 tournaments across the country as before. “There is no question of being bankrupt. We are committed to holding the ICL,” ICL business head Himanshu Mody said in the statement.
The business head added that BCCI, who has created enough trouble for the Indian Cricket League, now wants to walk the path of peace. In a mood to patching up the old row, India’s cricket board offers to make a deal to Subhash Chandra owned league. The deal calls for the dissolving of ICL on the part of Zee group and a gift of Indian Premier League franchise in return. As expected, the deal was not acceptable for the ICL founder. “The BCCI has been offering a peace deal to ICL promoter Subhash Chandra asking him to take up a franchise in return for winding up the league, but this is unacceptable to the Zee boss,” Mody was quoted as saying.Subhash Chandra not only has turned down BCCI’s peace deal, he sent out clear message that he is firm on his grounds on certain issues. And most important among them is striking off the ‘rebel’ tag behind the names of the ICL players. The Twenty-20 league is currently waiting for the decisions of International Cricket Council's executive Board meeting to come out. It is scheduled for April 17-18 in Dubai. The outcome of the meeting will decide the fate of Indian cricket league - whether or not the league would be granted official status. If it fails to produce any satisfactory result, ICL will go for the legal options, Mody makes it clear. “If a resolution does not come through at the next ICC Executive Board meeting, we will pursue legal options. Our stated position is that we will take ICC to court in the UK citing precedents -- Tony Grieg vs. Doug Insole (England) and Kapil Dev and other players vs. BCCI in Indian courts.” Mody says in his statement.
ICL’s releasing of NZ players Shane Bond and Darryl Tuffey and Pakistani players Mohd. Yousuf and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Abdur Razzak, sparked off rumors that a recession-hit ICL is on the verge of collapse. The business head of the league however made it clear that the release has been granted only on a temporary basis to accommodate with the players’ commitments for their national teams. He says letting players representing their countries in international cricket only add value to their profile and that in turn make them more valuable for the League too.
However, ICL makes it a point to gain back the ICC recognition for the players. The business head also said that the league will remain firm on its demands that the “rebel” tag should be removed from it and both the domestic as well as international cricket bodies should recognize the players’ official status and restore pension and other benefits. A the same time he made it clear that cancellation of last ICL was due to the pull out of Pakistani cricketers in the aftermath of Mumbai attack. “People are spreading canards about the ICL going belly up and that due to this we are releasing players. This is all nonsense. Yes, we cancelled one event due to 26/11 but that doesn't mean the ICL is defunct. We are looking at two tournaments in October-November, a league in 8-9 cities on the round-robin format followed by the World Series," Mody said in an attempt to quash the rumors about ICL closing down.
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