London: In the continuing battle of attrition, top Indian cricketers on Sunday kept the guessing game on, waiting for Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) response to the International Cricket Council's (ICC) rejection of their demands on the contract issue while giving them more time to reconsider their decision.

A day after the ICC meeting in Dubai, where it decided to give some more time to top Indian cricketers to sign the contract for next month's Champions Trophy, members of the touring team in England were awaiting an "official response" from the BCCI.

"We have only read what has appeared in the newspapers but would rather have an official word on it," a senior player said on Sunday on condition of anonymity.

The ICC executive board on Saturday expressed its inability to accept the written plea of the Indian players, signed by Indian captain Saurav Ganguly, offering to play in the tournament without signing the controversial Players' Terms agreement.

BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya, who attended the meeting, claimed that ICC had given an assurance that it would look into the Indian players' issue and discuss it after the Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka, scheduled in the second week of the month.

But the Indian players are asking for more than a mere verbal assurance to commit themselves on the Champions Trophy and sign the Players Terms as it exists today.

"Not only we want a written assurance, we are also unable to decide either way today as most of the players could not be contacted," said the senior player.

The touring Indian cricketers are having a break from practice on Sunday and most have gone their own way, either visiting relatives and friends or just shopping.

"We also don't want to get too much bogged down ahead of the Oval Test," said another senior player, pointing out how important it was for the team to concentrate on recording their first Test series win outside the sub-continent in 16 years.

India and England are tied 1-1 in the four-match series with the final Test scheduled to begin at the Oval on Thursday.

The Indians are objecting to a clause in the agreement that requires them to forego their individual endorsements 30 days before and after an ICC event in favour of the official sponsors of the tournament in case of a clash of interest.

The Indians took a conciliatory step forward by offering to convince their sponsors not to air the conflicting advertisements during the 18-day period of the tournament. But they have consistently refused to sign the agreement.

Extras:
ICC for amicable solution, gives Indians more time