ICL spreads its wings, makes BCCI sweat

Mumbai: In a dramatic press conference in Mumbai on Monday, the ICL named 45 Indian players and seven foreign recruits who will play in the breakaway league.
"We need these set of people who are ready to make their own life, ready to decide what they want to do without being pushed by somebody, and threatened by somebody," former India captain Kapil Dev said, referring to the players who jumbed into the ICL bandwagon.
The leader of the ICL pack was typically combative. The red shirts belonged to some legends of the Indian game, led by the World Cup winning captain himself. Only former India off-spinner Erapalli Prasanna was a new face among the coaches and executive board members.
But the real excitement was reserved for the black shirts worn by the players recruited in the league. Led by Dinesh Mongia, a total of 45 Indian players have signed on the dotted line. These include Reetinder Singh Sodhi, Laxmi Rattan Shukla, Deep Dasgupta, J P Yadav and Thiru Kumaran.
"Our boys are free to play for India anytime whoever wants it," confirmed Kapil.

The rumour mills had been working overtime on the foreign recruits. And for once media speculation proved correct. Former Pakistan skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq, batsman Mohammad Yousuf, all-rounder Abdul Razzaq, who announced his international retirement earlier on Monday and opener Imran Farhat have also joined. Also on board are South African players Nicky Boje, Lance Klusener and Nantie Hayward. Clearly, the ambitious project believes they can compete with the BCCI in the market place.
"There has to be strength in the product, there has to be entertainment, there has to be good cricket to watch. I don't see why either viewers would not be attracted to us," said Himanshu Mody, Project Manager of the ICL.
So what happens next? The Indian players who have jumped ship won't be able to play for either their state teams or India now. Although, they haven't given up hope that the BCCI will soften its stance.
"It will be an honour for me to play for India again, and I'm not saying that I won't play for India. If they pick me, of course I'll play for India," India discard Dinesh Mongia says.
The announcements have been made and battlelines have been drawn. But despite the brave words, it still remains to be seen how well the sponsors and the Indian cricketing nation will react to this new entrant.