Full-strength India squad
for Champions Trophy

Sachin Tendulkar and all of India's leading cricketers have been picked for the Champions Trophy, starting in Sri Lanka on Thursday, thus ending the long-running sponsorship wrangle.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India on Monday named a full-strength squad, with Sourav Ganguly as captain, for the September 12-29 tournament following a global teleconference with the International Cricket Council and other Test-playing nations.

The row, which centred around the conflicting rights of the official tournament sponsors and the players' personal sponsors, had threatened the biggest one-day event outside the World Cup.

The ICC last week appeared to have resolved the crisis after brokering a compromise with the India players, only for the BCCI to reject it.

But BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya agreed to the compromise at the eleventh hour after the ICC said his board would not have to foot the bill if it is later sued by sponsors linked to the Champions Trophy.

"After discussion for an hour and 45 minutes, it has been agreed upon that all financial consequences arising out of the Champions Trophy will be borne by the ICC," Dalmiya told reporters.

"We are quite happy about it. A full-strength squad will represent India in the tournament."

The 14-member team announced by Dalmiya includes Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, Dinesh Mongia, Mohd Kaif, Yuvraj Singh, Ajit Agarkar, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, V V S Laxman, Jai Prakash Yadav, Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh.

Mail Cricket Editor