Pace spearhead Shane Bond is all set to become the seventh and the most high-profile New Zealand player to join the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL), on a three-year contract worth $800,000.

Although Bond, currently recovering from an abdominal strain, has chosen to remain mum on the issue, New Zealand Cricket (NZC) chief executive Justin Vaughan has admitted that Bond was all but lost to the ICL.

“I can’t say for certain he has signed but I understand that is what his agent is saying,” Vaughan was quoted as saying by the Dominican Post here.

However, Vaughan said NZC would do all it can to bring Bond back into the fold even if it meant fighting an expensive legal battle to wriggle him out of the ICL contract.

“Even if he has signed with the ICL, we’d love to see if there was a way to get him out of that contract. We’ll fund all the support to get him out of it, similar to what Pakistan has done with Mohammad Yousuf,” he said.

Despite his constant injury breakdowns, Bond is widely regarded as New Zealand’s best pacer since Richard Hadlee and his decision to join ICL — to earn almost three times more than what he gets as an NZC contracted player — would be a severe blow for the country’s board.

And one of the possible solutions being looked upon by NZC to prevent Bond’s defection was getting him a hefty contract with the BCCI and ICC backed Indian Premier League (IPL).

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