New Delhi, Feb. 24: Options are fast vanishing for the Indian Cricket League. Two of its meetings - one in September, and the other on Monday — with representatives of the Board of Control for Cricket in India have failed to end the stalemate between the two parties.

The ICL continues to remain an unsanctioned tournament thanks to the unsuccessful three-hour meeting in Johannesburg.

The ICL also continues to snub the BCCI’s offer of the league forming an Indian Premier League franchise and disbanding its own. The ICC release said no further tripartite meeting was planned on the issue. So where does the league head from here?

The ICL's application to be recognised will now once again go before the ICC executive board at its meeting in Dubai in April. A result coming from there, however, is highly unlikely since the the world body has virtually given complete authority to the BCCI to take a decision on the issue. If the deadlock doesn’t end there, the rebel league is certain to take the legal route — something that the ICL has been pondering for quite a while. A recent ruling in the Sindh high court in Pakistan allowing cricketers associated with the league to play domestic cricket in that country, is an encouraging sign for them.

Even more interesting is the resolution from the ICC executive board meeting’s last year which gave member boards the freedom to take any action against ICL players as they considered appropriate.