Contracts to be signed shortly, say board and players

The board appears to have sorted out the differences with the players in relation to the contract issue and said that they expect it to be signed in the next few days.

"We had a fruitful discussion with the board today and we're are hopeful of signing it in the next few days," Indian captain Rahul Dravid said after talks with a board committee in Bangalore.

N Srinivasan, the treasurer of the board, played down the players' disagreement over few issues in the contracts. "There is no question of players' demand," he said. "The board and the players are not two entities. This isn't a public issue. It is purely an internal matter. We are very clear that the contracts would be finalised."

Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Anil Kumble were the other players part of the discussions. The BCCI committee comprised Srinivasan, vice-president Shashank Manohar and former board president IS Bindra.

Their suggestions will be placed in front of the Working Committee which is to meet in Delhi on Tuesday. A cap on endorsements and the proposed abolition of graded payments were set to be the major points discussed and it seems that a compromise has been reached on both issues.