Cricket: Sorry but no - India can't come

India have politely declined a request to fill in for the Sri Lankans this month, leaving New Zealand Cricket with precious few remaining options.

The last-ditch effort to salvage the first half of the summer's international programme now rests mainly on the hope that NZC and the players' association can entice a World XI here later in the month.

However, even that plan faces several daunting obstacles, not least the need for NZC to quickly sell the prospective television rights to make the series a financial reality.

The proposed three-match limited-over series would be an expensive exercise for Christchurch HQ, who would have to fly players from all over the world, as well as pay match fees and bonuses for both teams.

In usual circumstances, the host board pays only its own team's match fees and doesn't have to meet the costs of flying the touring party into the country.

NZC chief executive Martin Snedden said yesterday that adequate financial backing was critical if the top-level players were to be persuaded to drop everything at a moment's notice and head to New Zealand. "The initiative effectively depends on enough high-calibre players being recruited to make the series viable, and in a nutshell that comes down to money," he said yesterday.

"We want to be able to sell the television rights to underpin the series, and we're working pretty hard on that at the moment."

On a positive note, the series yesterday gained the sanction of the International Cricket Council, and New Zealand Players Association spokesman Heath Mills reported keen interest from prospective World XI players.

Mills said the next key development was for the series to receive the support of the respective players' national boards, as most would be contracted to play in their local domestic competitions.

"We're talking about Australian test players not required on the ODI scene, Australian fringe players, and England test players not involved in the one-day series against South Africa," he said.

"We've also had indications from three or four Sri Lankan players that they would be prepared to return to New Zealand."

He expected a decision would be made on the World XI proposal by early next week.

As for the "thank you, but no thanks" response from Delhi, Snedden said he wasn't surprised and completely understood India's reluctance to pull their national players out of their domestic competition. "I was never hopeful, but we didn't have many options open to us, and we couldn't afford to assume anything."

Meanwhile, India captain Sourav Ganguly will lead the Asian XI against Ricky Ponting's Rest of the World team in Monday's "Cricket Aid" one-day match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

But batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar, who was reportedly included in the team at his own request despite a troublesome elbow, later withdrew, citing doctor's advice.

A feature of the Asian side is the inclusion of Sri Lankan spin bowler Muttiah Muralitharan, who has been sidelined since undergoing an operation on his injured shoulder in August.

The Asian combination includes five Indians, five Sri Lankans, two Pakistanis and one Bangladeshi, with another player likely to be announced soon as Tendulkar's replacement.

Asian XI: Sourav Ganguly (India, captain), Rahul Dravid (India), Virender Sehwag (India), Zaheer Khan (India), Anil Kumble (India), Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka), Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka), Marvan Atapattu (Sri Lanka), Yousuf Youhana (Pakistan), Alok Kapali (Bangladesh), Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka), Chaminda Vaas (Sri Lanka), Shoaib Akhtar (Pakistan).