The Indian Cricket League is currently “in talks” with a Bangalore-based “entrepreneur” who has launched www.indiancricketleague.net, just one “dot net” away from the official ICL website, www.indiancricketleague.in.

So hassled are ICL officials with the squatter, whom they have identified as K Ramesh, that they are looking at all possibilities, including the legal route, to vacate him. Ramesh, meanwhile, is demanding compensation running into “lakhs of rupees”. “We are currently in talks with the person. He has asked for some money but we will explore all routes to solve this amicably,” said Gaurav Seth, V-P, Marketing and Communications, ICL.

The ICL officially launched its site on August 10, thumbing its nose at the nearly 80-year-old, billion-dollar BCCI which is yet to start one. But what’s bothering ICL officials now is not just the fact that it’s Ramesh’s site that first pops up when you type and search Indian Cricket League on Google — apparently, many ICL fans, including some prospective cricketers, have already lost their way on the wrong site, sending queries to the wrong address.

More importantly, Ramesh’s site has hosted a lengthy article under “About ICL”, which is not very kind towards Essel Group owner Subhash Chandra, who is behind the new league. Under “Reasons for Creation”, the article claims that it has to do with “Zee Telefilms desire to create sports content”.

It goes on to elaborate on Chandra’s “pain of denial” at his group not being able to bag the BCCI’s TV rights in 2000, and alleges the Zee Group head had backed current BCCI president Sharad Pawar during that historic election of 2005 when Bengal supremo Jagmohan Dalmiya was toppled.