Ravi Shastri, who has been acting as the players' representative in their dealings with the Indian cricket board (BCCI), has said that he will have to meet with the team on Saturday night after the BCCI rejected the compromise that had been worked out between the players and the International Cricket Conference. Less than 24 hours ago it was announced that talks between the ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed and the players had produced a deal which would have enabled India to send their first-choice side to the Champions Trophy. But today's announcement from the BCCI appears to have scotched any such agreement.

"It's back to square one," said Shastri. "We are in the same situation that we were two months ago. It's like a game of table-tennis."

And he condemned the way that the BCCI had dealt with the whole matter. "We met with ICC, but not one [BCCI] board official has been bothered to travel to England to talk with the players. They [the players] are most disappointed. We had resolved the matter with ICC, both parties were happy, and now this."

He added that despite the rhetoric coming from the BCCI, the players had received nothing in writing, even though they had been told that their individual sponsors would be compensated for any losses. Shastri asked: "What if one of the sponsors asks for £1 million ... what if three sponsors ask for £1 million each? Will the board pay?"

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd