ICL's push for recognition

Legal action might be the only option - Kapil

New innovations at ICL? Kapil Dev said the umpire review system, which the ICC is now trialling, was started by the ICL. They also have some more innovations in the pipeline. "We also plan to award nine runs for a 90-yard hit," he said. "And we are thinking about abolishing overthrows if there is a direct hit while going for a run-out."

Kapil Dev, the ICL chairman, has said taking legal action would be the only option left if the ICC doesn't respond to the league's bid for official recognition at its next board meeting, possibly in November. The ICL had issued a letter to the ICC to convene a board meeting after the talks with the BCCI failed.

"I think we are on very good ground as far as a legal case goes," Kapil said. "Eventually we will do that [take legal action]. "We are not the ones who are enforcing bans on players or umpires."

Subhash Chandra, chairman of the Essel Group, which owns the ICL, and Himanshu Mody, the league's business head, had met BCCI president Shashank Manohar and N Srinivasan, the board's secretary, in New Delhi but the talks barely lasted 15-20 minutes and they failed to arrive at a common ground.

Manohar met officials of the ICL for the first time since the league was set up in April 2007 after its request for recognition came up for discussion at the ICC board meeting in Dubai earlier this month. It was decided at that meeting that Manohar would provide a written report to the ICC board "in due course" after discussions with the ICL.

Kapil said he was unhappy with the way the talks were conducted. "I wasn't there but I believe they said 'you shut down the ICL then we will talk'. There is no point in talking after that. We will now wait for 21 days to decide our future plan of action."