"I am grateful to all parties for coming together with the best of intentions. The discussions took place in a friendly and cordial manner but, unfortunately, we were not able to come to a successful conclusion in our discussions."u00a0

ICC President David Morgan's statement to the media is enough indication that the last chance for a settlement between the Indian Cricket League and the BCCI has well and truly ended.

Cricket's governing body called both parties together in the hope of settling their differences but the three-hour talks failed last evening. The ICL was represented by Chairman of Essel Group Subhash Chandra and ICL's business head Himanshu Mody. N Srinivasan was the lone representative of the BCCI.

The failure in talks is hardly surprising since their dispute has reached the courts. Recently, the BCCI brought up ICL torchbearer Kapil Dev's alleged match-fixing involvement to which the 1983 World Cup-winning all-rounder said: "I remember, we won the World Cup in 1983. Back then, we served our country. Now if the BCCI thinks, that one word can change my life, then I'd like to categorically confirm that 'No', it can't. I know who I am."