IPL to be bigger in second edition, says Modi

NEW DELHI: The second player's auctionof the DLF Indian Premier League will witness 114 cricketers from abroad underthe hammer in Goa on February 6. From South Africa's new batting sensation JPDuminy to England's Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff, the auction will see anarray of stars up for the auction for the second edition of the tournament thatwill kick off on April 10.Australian players will lead the chargewith 27 in the fray that include Bradd Haddin, Nathan Hauritz, Stuart Clark,Bradd Hogg, Shaun Tait and Jason Krejza among others. However, Australianvice-captain Michael Clarke pulled out citing a busy internationalschedule.England follows next with 21 players including Pietersen,Flintoff, Steve Harmison, James Anderson, Monty Panesar, Ravi Bopara, MattPrior, Ian Bell, Paul Collingwood, Shaun Udal, Ryan Sidebottom, Graeme Swan andOwais Shah. Fifteen players from Sri Lanka and 13 South Africans arealso in the fray. However, Pakistan players Asim Kamal, Yasir Hameed, DanishKaneria, Mohd Hafeez and Yasir Arafat had to pull out after the Pak governmentbarred them from playing in the league, a decision which is bound to furtherstrain the sporting ties between the two countries."As perguidelines set by the Governing Council for the IPL 2009, each franchisee willhave a maximum purse of $2 million, less any amount spent on signing temporaryreplacements from last year to select the cricketers best suited for theirteam's strategies," according to a release from theorganisers.Players from Bangladesh, the West Indies, New Zealand andZimbabwe too have enlisted themselves for the auction. "The enthusiasm andinterest displayed by players from all around the world to participate in thesecond season of the league has been truly overwhelming," IPL commissioner LalitModi said in a statement. "Clearly the DLF Indian Premier League hasset new standards in helping uncover and hone some exciting new talent, thathave gone on to gain international recognition, all of which augurs well fordevelopment of world cricket. We are extremely happy with the interest theleague has garnered globally and look forward to the action at the second playerauction in Goa," Modi said. AaronBird 45,000, Brett Geeves 45,000, Bryce McGain 50,000, Daniel Harris 50,000,Dominic Thornley 50,000, George Bailey 50,000, Jonathan Moss 50,000, MichaelDighton 85,000, Michael Hill 50,000, Phil Jacques 100,000, Shane Harwood 75,000,Shaun Tait 250,000, Steven Smith 75,000 and Stuart Clark250,000. MashrafeBin Mortaza 50,000, Mohammed Ashraful 75,000, Shakib Al Hasan 75,000, TamimIqbal 50,000. Andrew Flintoff950,000, Pietersen 1,35,000, Luke Wright 150,000, Owais Shah 150,000, PaulCollingwood 250,000, Ravi Bopara 150,000 and Samit Patel100,000. JamesFranklin 50,000, Jesse Ryder 100,000 and Kyle Mills150,000. GulamBodi 100,000, J P Duminy 300,000, Morne Van Wyk 100,000, Tyron Henderson 100,000and Yusuf Abdullah 25,000. Chamara Kapugedara 150,000, Kaushalya Weereratne 50,000, NuwanKulasekera 100,000 and Thilan Tushara100,000.DwayneSmith (To be confirmed), Fidel Edwards 150,000, Jerome Taylor (TBC), Kech 50,000and Kieron Pollard 60,000.