'Brian Lara is staying with ICL'

MUMBAI, November 31: The Indian Cricket League (ICL) claimed on Wednesday that Brian Lara, the legendary former West Indies batsman, is definitely "going to play for them".
Lara, who was named captain of Mumbai Champs, was supposed to join the side last week as the skipper. The six ICL teams have begun training at various centres across the country. The ICL, which is promoted by the Zee Group, now claims Lara would be arriving in India by Friday in time for Mumbai Champs' practice games against Kolkata Tigers.Lara was among the first big-ticket players to be signed up by ICL in July.
Lara, who is currently camping in London, was reportedly unhappy with the remuneration provided by the ICL claiming it did not match his market value. Lara was also unhappy that several of the stars who were to join the ICL haven't come over as was expected. The Australian duo of Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath are now with the BCCI-backed Indian Premier League (IPL). All this led to speculations that Lara might also move over to IPL.
What finally made Lara come around were his parleys with a senior ICL official over the last few days. Sources claim ICL business head Himanshu Modi flew to London on Tuesday and had "detailed discussions". It is now rumoured that Lara's contract was renegotiated to enable him to join the ICL. TOI's attempts to reach Lara did not yield any result as he repeatedly refused to accept the call.
Meanwhile, former West Indies paceman Merv Dillon arrived in Mumbai on Wednesday and became the latest discard to join the league. Dillon would be playing for Delhi Jets who will be captained by the recently-retired Sri Lanka batsman Marvan Atapattu. The 36-year-old Atapattu was originally named on the ICL roster, but his name was pulled off to avoid him "embarrassment" on the eve of the second Test against Australia in Hobart.