NEW DELHI, Aug 26: India’s cricket chief Jagmohan Dalmiya accused his country’s senior players of lacking intelligence as the row over their refusal to sign contracts intensified Monday.

Dalmiya warned India could be isolated by the International Cricket Council (ICC) if the players do not sign the controversial sponsorship agreement ahead of next month’s Champions Trophy event in Sri Lanka.

“I am stunned by the lack of intelligence on some of our senior players,” the Times of India quoted Dalmiya as saying.

“By refusing to sign, they have negated our efforts to negotiate with the ICC.”

Dalmiya said the “ICC will murder us” when the executive board of the sport’s governing body meets to discus the contentious contracts issued in Dubai on Aug 31.

Indian cricketers have refused to sign the ICC contracts, which prevent them from promoting companies that are rivals to the official sponsors of the Champions Trophy one month before and after the event.

The contracts had also included the 2003 and 2007 World Cups, but the ICC backed down after the players rebelled, saying the contracts were valid only for the Champions Trophy in Colombo from Sept 12-29.

Leading Indian players like Sachin Tendulkar and Saurav Ganguly stand to lose millions of dollars in sponsorship money if they signed the contracts.

Australian and English cricketers, who initially opposed the contracts, agreed to take part in the Champions Trophy after reaching agreements with their respective boards.

The Indian players, currently involved in a Test series in England, nominated television commentator Ravi Shastri, a former international, to negotiate with Dalmiya on their behalf.

Shastri said Dalmiya did not have the “guts” to negotiate with him, an accusation the former ICC president scoffed at.

“Since I don’t have the guts, how can I face him,” Dalmiya told the Times of India.

“Let me see if I can get hold of Mohammad Ali.”

Dalmiya said he “almost begged” with the players to sign the contracts, but “they seem to have more faith in Shastri than me”.

Negotiations between the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the players are expected to resume soon.

The row took place even though the BCCI was the first national association to complain to the ICC that the sponsorship clauses in the contracts were contentious.

Clause 13, which the players object to, reads:

“The squad member shall not from 30 days before the first match until 30 days after the last match in the event, directly or indirectly allow his name, voice, image, likeness or other representation to be used...

“Either (a) in any advertising or endorsement or (b) for any commercial purpose in any media whatsoever by or on behalf of a competitor of any official sponsor or global partner or official supplier.”

The BCCI objected to the clause in a letter to the ICC in June.

“We have distinct problems in complying with the clause in its totality,” the letter stated.

“For instance, we can’t prevent our players from not taking part in any advertisement or endorsement from 30 days before the event till 30 days after the event.

“We do not interfere with such rights of the players because it directly affects their fundamental rights under the Constitution of India.”

Dalmiya is expected to be India’s representative at the Dubai meeting of the ICC.

If no agreement is reached, the BCCI plans to send a second-string team to the Champions Trophy led by former one-day star Robin Singh.—AFP