At least 12 Pakistanis for IPL players auction

Eager to participate in the third Indian Premier League, at least a dozen Pakistani cricketers have made themselves available for the players' auction, on January 17.

"None of the players have contacted the IPL through the PCB; they have done this directly themselves," said Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ejaz Butt.

"We had told these players to contact Lalit Modi, the chairman of the IPL, directly instead of going through us or agents. As far as we are concerned we have issued a general NOC from the government and ourselves to the players to play in the IPL if they manage to get contracts," he said.

Sources said most of the Pakistani team members are in touch with Modi and around 12 of them have told him that they should be considered for the auction.

The deadline for Pakistani players to apply for the auction ends on Thursday.

Sources said players who have applied directly include Shahid Afridi, Fawad Alam, Muhammad Aamer, Abdul Razzaq, Sohail Tanvir, Misbah-ul-Haq, Kamran Akmal and Umar Akmal.

Modi had made it clear earlier this month that Pakistani players could not be signed on directly by franchisees as the Pakistan board had missed the deadline for sending their NOC's and getting Indian visas for the players.