India's win at Headingley hasn't just helped them square the series; it has probably helped win Jagmohan Dalmiya over to their side too. A day after lambasting the players for their lack of intelligence, Dalmiya did a volte-face and came out supporting them in the contract controversy. Speaking to The Times of India on the agreement reached between the Australian Cricket Board (ACB) and the Australian Cricketers' Association (ACA), Dalmiya termed it the "biggest bluff of world cricket". ICC plans to use the Australian model as a template for other cricket boards in their meeting in Dubai on August 31, but Dalmiya rejected it outright.

Specifically, he took exception to a clause in the ACB-ACA agreement which states that "It is the player's responsibility to ensure that if the sponsors conflict with any ICC event sponsors, their sponsors will not use the player's attributes in any promotional activity within 30 days either side of the ICC event."

According to Dalmiya, "Our players have the freedom to choose their own sponsors. We can never force them to tell their sponsors to stop promotional activities because it is conflicting with ICC's sponsors. It's a violation of fundamental rights." In fact, the BCCI had pointed this out to ICC in a letter dated June 22, 2002.

Dalmiya also disagreed with the compensation package mentioned in the agreement, according to which the Australian players will get 25% of the amount that the board receives for the Champions Trophy and the World Cup. He stated that the Indian board distributes 60% of the amount it receives from sponsors among the national players, while Sri Lanka's players are demanding 30%.

Another clause which irked Dalmiya was the formation of an approval and dispute resolution process. "They have kept provisions for arbitration and other legal wrangles in case of sponsorship disputes. That means our players will be spending more time in court than on a cricket pitch."

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