“I openly challenge the board for a match. Let’s have an ICL vs IPL match,” More thundered. “We’ve contributed the maximum in the Indian grassroots, let them bring on their cricketers and play against the talent we’ve scouted. That will decide which of us is better.”

But, at the same time, More says he’s fed up of comparisons with the IPL. “I just want to concentrate on ICL. We have had a fantastic turnout in all our grounds and the people are watching us,” he said.

Stanford face-off

While the board mulls over this challenge, More said the ICL champions may play for a $ 1 million jackpot against the champions of the Stanford championship — another private T20 initiative in the Caribbean that has a number of former West Indies players in its fold. “We’re definitely moving towards it and we hope to arrive at a decision soon,” More said. Citing another example of the ICL’s progress, More hinted that the league was all set to enter the foreign market. “We are looking at some venue abroad to broaden our horizon. But it would be premature to say where exactly we are heading,” he said.

Speculation is also rife that a Team Sydney and a Team London will make their debut sooner rather than later in the ICL, and that a process has been put in place to tap more foreign players to start a separate edition like the World Series. No official word was available.