Dalmiya the key as Indian players dig in over contracts

India's star cricketers are still involved in a sponsorship dispute with their board which could destroy the game's most important one-day tournaments. If the International Cricket Council are more hopeful than they were a week ago, they recognise that there is still a huge amount of delicate wrangling to do which involves millions of dollars for players like Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly.

England's players reached an agreement yesterday but that hardly impinges on the Indians disgruntlement. They are refusing to play in the ICC Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka next month unless they are compensated for surrendering personal endorsement deals. At stake is the lucrative $550 million television and marketing deal with the Global Cricket Corporation, which runs until 2007 and is the envy of other sports.

India's participation – with their big-name players – is vital for the terms of the deal to be upheld. If the Indians send a reserve squad, GCC could downgrade their deal. Given the decline in TV rights they may not give that a second thought.

Ravi Shastri, the former Test all-rounder who is acting as the players' agent and spokesman, said: "The players want to play but they will not be taken for a ride on this. If common sense prevails they will be in Sri Lanka, but that depends on the board. The ball is in their court. I have asked the [ICC] president, Jagmohan Dalmiya, to contact me urgently, but so far my phone has been silent."

The wrangle, which appears to have been settled in other countries, concerns the ICC's contract which precludes players from endorsing products which conflict with those of tournament sponsors. The Indians have more such personal deals than cricketers anywhere else.

While it may be possible for them to suspend such endorsements in line with ICC demands – during tournaments and for 30 days either side – they are demanding compensation from the Board of Control for Cricket in India.

Niranjan Shah, the secretary of the BCCI, said they had received some documents from Australia, where the players settled their differences on Friday. But the problems were different. "Cricketers in Australia and other countries don't have big sponsorship contracts like in India," he said.

Among all players there remain two chief concerns: compensation and image rights. Significant steps have been made over the latter. The ICC have made it clear that tournament sponsors will not be permitted to use the images of individual players without reward. Administrators realise that India could be a stumbling block too far.

But the idea that the Indian board would have to find millions of dollars they do not have in compensation may not quite be true. Not all the personal endorsements conflict with tournament sponsors and some, like Pepsi for instance, are the same.

The ICC have lifted all deadlines to gain a settlement, and this one could run until the tournament starts on 12 September.