Organisers of the Indian Cricket League (ICL) are expeceted to lay the cards on the table in Mumbai on Monday by revealing the names of the players, who have signed up for the rebel cash-rich event.
Reports are doing rounds that Punjab Ranji skipper Dinesh Mongia, Railways all-rounder JP Yadav, Mumbaikars Amol Muzumdar and Nilesh Kulkarni and the Delhi trio of Aakash Chopra, Amit Bhandari and Vijay Dahiya are ready to jump on to the bandwagon.
From Bengal, former India stumper Deep Dasgupta is widely believed to have taken the plunge as well.
With time running out for the event, the ICL authorities went on a signing spree over the last few days and managed to lure in eight players from Hyderabad Ranji team.
Besides, S Sriram of Tamil Nadu also joined the rebel league while former India player Sanjay Bangar revealed he was in negotiations with the organisers.
UP trio of Shalabh Srivastava, Ali Murtaza and Avinash Yadav have also reportedly sided with the rebel league.
ICL, which has its biggest catch in West Indies great Brian Lara, has spread its tentacles in Pakistan as well with Inzamam-ul Haq, Mohammad Yousuf, Abdul Razzaq and Imran Farhat having given their nod.
While the fate of ICL's negotiations with star Australians Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath are not known yet, rumours are rife that New Zealand skipper Stephen Fleming may bid adieu to his international career to play in the league.
Retired Kiwi Test stars Nathan Astle and Chris Cairns are also reportedly on the verge of signing up with the Twenty20 series set to take off in October.
In fact, ICL has created a crisis of sort in the Kiwi land and the New Zealand's Players' Association, fearing an exodus, has urged the International Cricket Council to recognise the rebel league.
"They're paying their players close to a million a year so it's a no-brainer. But a guy who is near the top of the retainer list and plays most games a year is looking at USD 250,000 maximum. That makes us vulnerable," Heath Mills, chief of the NZCPA, said.
He said Australia, England and South Africa probably had the money to stop their players from joining ICL but feared New Zealand Cricket would not be able to retain its top players.
