NEW DELHI: Action on Indian Premier League (IPL) season 2, scheduled for April-May this year, is beginning to pick up. The IPL auction for cricket players, slated for next week in Goa, will see 112 overseas players participating in the auction, much bigger than the auction in season one.

But only a maximum of two additional players (besides those foreign players who were brought on board last year) per franchisee, which would result in 16 players in all, are expected to be picked up out of the total 112 players available. These 112 players include those who were put in the transfer window by their teams and the new players.

As per a fresh guidelines set by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) governing council for the DLF IPL 2009, each team franchisee will have a maximum of $2 million (excluding any amount spent on signing temporary replacements from last year), to spend on signing on overseas players in this auction.

Australians top the list with 27 players followed by 21 English players. England’s Kevin Pietersen has the highest base price of $1.3 million. Other English players such as Andrew Flintoff and Paul Collingwood have announced their availability for a three-week period for the next two years.

"The enthusiasm and interest displayed by players from all around the world to participate in the second season of the league augurs well for development of world cricket," IPL commissioner Lalit Modi said in a statement.

In addition to England and Australia, other countries participating in the auction include players from Bangladesh, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies and Zimbabwe. Season 2 of the IPL is set to kick off on April 10.