What hurts the ICL players the most is that they won’t get an opportunity to represent the country. More than a few have told The Indian Express how not being in contention is depressing. One player said, “After a period of time, money becomes redundant. It seems as if that one big dream you always saw is suddenly dead.”

Kapil and others on the ICL board accept this. The former all-rounder concedes that it was the “dream of playing for India” that had fueled his own expectations years ago. In the fight between the BCCI and the ICL, it’s the players who’re seeing their dreams die.

On Wednesday, the ICL got a title sponsor for the T20 tournament, reportedly at US$5m. But it won’t change the bigger picture, at least for now.