The 2010 Player Auction for Indian Premier League will be held on the 19th January 2010. It will be held in India. 97 players from cricket playing countries other than India have registered for the auction. Merely registering, however, does not guarantee the player will be included in the auction list. The IPL will send the list of 97 names to the franchises who will then select those players they would like included in the auction. The selected players will be informed of their inclusion by January 5. The number of overseas players a franchise may have on its roster is capped at ten and at present it is unclear how many slots are available. In 2009, over 100 players registered for the auction out of which 50 went under the hammer to fill 17 available overseas slots. The IPL said it expected the number of places to be substantially lower this time. The original list of 97 players, released on Saturday, was pared down to 96 after Chris Cairns' name was removed; the current list comprises players whom the franchises have specifically selected for the auction. Chris Cairns, a former New Zealand international, was controversially omitted earlier in the week by IPL boss Lalit Modi amid comments alleging the former Black Cap's suspension from the rebel Indian Cricket League was due to match-fixing. Cairns has vehemently denied the references and is considering legal action. 51 of the players registered for the player auction were shortlisted. Controversially all of England's players were omitted. According to Lalit Modi, this is because of "new conditions imposed by the ECB". Nine English players will feature in the IPL auction on January 19 after league officials said a dispute over NOCs had been resolved. This takes to 60 the number of players who will be involved in the auction. The auction list features players from Australia (11), South Africa (9), Sri Lanka (8), West Indies (8), Pakistan (7), New Zealand (4) and one each from Bangladesh, Canada, Holland and Zimbabwe.
