The BCCI has put pressure on English counties with rebel ICL links by "advising" its own players to not sign up with such teams.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India took another tough stance against the rebel league by not allowing contracted players to play for English counties with Indian Cricket League's players in their lineup.

BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah was reported to have said that the contracted players, which include VVS Laxman, Piyush Chawla and Ajit Agarkar - who have signed or are in the process of signing with English counties this season have been advised to pull out if the county has ICL players on its rolls.

"We don't want our players in teams that have other players playing in unauthorised tournaments," he said.

Young spin talent Piyush Chawla could have made the most of his break from international cricket (he doesn't figure in India's Test side to Sri Lanka) by playing for English county side Hampshire this season. But the BCCI has barred him because they are still fighting with the Indian Cricket League. Hampshire have three players from the ICL.

Shah confirmed that he would not be playing for Hampshire.

"Piyush Chawla will not be going (to Hampshire) because there are a few ICL players in that team," he said.

Middle order batsman VVS Laxman, who is not included in the one-day side, was supposed to play for Northamptonshire after the Sri Lanka Test series, but since the BCCI realised that even Northamptonshire has three ICL players, they have asked Laxman as well to pull out.

Shah, however, clarified that "non-ICL" players from these county teams will be allowed to take part in the BCCI's Indian Premier League (IPL). Hampshire's Dimitri Mascarenhas had played for Rajasthan Royals in the tournament's first season.

The decision does, though, put into doubt the participation of Indian players in the English Premier League, which was unveiled on Wednesday and will start in 2010.

The BCCI and the ECB have been at loggerheads over this issue. While the BCCI has asked all Test-playing nations to ban ICL players, the English counties are in no mood to bow down to the BCCI's pressure.