New Delhi, July 30: A clash between Indian cricketers and the International Cricket Council over the contentious Wada-compliant Anti-Doping Code seems imminent, with the world body refusing to alter the fine print to accomodate the players’ concerns.

The 11 India players in the testing pool have expressed reservations over the procedure involved, which includes informing the governing body of their whereabouts at least one hour every day for the next two months for random out-of-competition testing.

The clause, the players allege, infringes their privacy; the ICC says it ensures fairness.

"The ICC has a zero-tolerance approach to doping in cricket and this new code serves to reinforce that stand," an ICC official told this newspaper on Sunday. "Both the ICC and Wada believe that knowing about the whereabouts of the player which is covered under the clause ‘Whereabout Requirements’ in the code, acts a powerful deterrent."

The players have been asked to submit the information before Saturday to the Board of Control for Cricket in India which in turn will pass it on to the ICC. With just a day left, there isn’t much time left for negotiations and neither parties have taken the first step. The BCCI, crucially, hasn’t taken a stand yet, though they have called for an emergency meeting of its working committee on Sunday to resolve the issue.

Even if a decision is reached at the meeting, it could be too late for the players in the list which includes Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Sachin Tendulkar, Zaheer Khan, Gautam Gambhir, Irfan Pathan, Munaf Patel, Jhulan Goswami and Mithali Raj.

"If we fail to get the information before the deadline, then according to the rules, the player would have committed a Filing Failure. Two more of such offences in an 18-month period will lead to a ban of 1-2 years," the ICC official said.

The official added that the ICC had conducted an Anti-Doping Code programme for the Indian players during their tour of New Zealand to ensure that there wouldn’t be any last-minute hitches. "Sportspersons around the world follow it — Roger Federer and Usain Bolt, everyone. Why should cricketers be an exception?" he reasoned.

The Wada code has, however, been challenged by 65 sportspersons in court since its inception. Tennis world number 2 Rafael Nadal had rebelled against it earlier this year.

"It’s a disgrace... Even my mother does not know where I am sometimes," he had said.