Kolkata: The month-long crisis over the International Cricket Council (ICC) sponsorship issue blew over on Monday with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) deciding to send its top players to the Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka after the ICC climbed down further and made a compromise offer.

The Indian team will be led by Saurav Ganguly and will include all the top stars including Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag, BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya said after a lengthy worldwide tele-conference with ICC and the participating countries.

The dramatic resolution came after ICC agreed to bear all the expenses that may arise out of legal complications flowing from the controversial contract that bars players from advertising for companies that have a clash of interest with the official sponsors.

While the Indian players struck a deal with the ICC, the Board had taken a tough posture and had given the players time till 14:00 hours (IST) on Monday to sign the contract or be left out of the team for Sri Lanka.

After the players rejected the Board's ultimatum and conditions, BCCI's selection committee met and picked a second-string team to be headed by veteran all-rounder Robin Singh but withheld its announcement till the tele-conference was over.

The details of the latest deal between ICC and BCCI are yet to be made public.

The team: Saurav Ganguly (captain), Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Dinesh Mongia, Mohammed Kaif, Yuvraj Singh, Ajit Agarkar, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, V V S Laxman, J P Yadav, Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh.

Extras:
Players reject BCCI diktat; Dalmiya remains mum
Srinath unlikely to be included in 2nd string team