NEW DELHI, Aug 22: The Indian cricket board is still hopeful its leading players will sign the controversial contract to play in next month’s ICC Champions Trophy.

“I hope so, hope wisdom prevails,” Niranjan Shah, secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), told Reuters on Thursday.

Top players, including Sachin Tendulkar and captain Saurav Ganguly, have refused to sign the contract because of a clause protecting sponsors which prevents them from endorsing products of rival companies 30 days either side of International Cricket Council (ICC) events.

The stand, backed by players from other Test countries, had threatened a mass boycott of the Sept 12-29 tournament in Colombo, but that prospect receded on Thursday when Australia reached an agreement and said they planned to send a full-strength team.

Shah said the board has done its best by offering the rebels compensation for lost endorsement deals and support in case of legal hassles from their sponsors, though he feels his organisation has been handicapped by the absence of player contracts.

The Indian board plans to study the proposals worked out between the Australian board and its players’ representatives before the ICC’s executive board meeting in Dubai on Aug 31.

Meanwhile, all-rounder Robin Singh is likely to captain a second-string Indian team, the Press Trust of India (PTI) reported Thursday.

Robin, a 39-year-old veteran of 136 One-day Internationals and a solitary Test, heads a pack of 25 probables consisting largely of players who have had short previous stints in international cricket.

Apart from Robin, seamers Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad are other experienced players shortlisted by selectors, PTI quoted Indian board sources as saying.

The Indian board has been refusing to announce the probables though it confirmed Wednesday it had finalised a list of 25 following the impasse with members of the team currently touring England.

Board officials are reportedly still awaiting confirmation from state associations about the players’ availability, after which the contract forms will be sent to them.

The probables, according to PTI:

Robin Singh, Sadagoppan Ramesh, Gautam Gambhir, Gagan Khoda, Daniel Manohar, Connor Williams, Hemang Badani, Rohan Gavaskar, Jacob Martin, Hrishikesh Kanitkar, Reetinder Sodhi, Jai Prakash Yadav, Vijay Bharadwaj, Rakesh Patel, Sarandeep Singh, Murali Karthik, Ramesh Powar, Sairaj Bahutule, Javagal Srinath, Venkatesh Prasad, Irfan Pathan, L. Balaji, Debashish Mohanty, Deep Dasgupta, M.S.K. Prasad.—Reuters/AFP