New Delhi, Dec 24 

The auction for the 2014 Indian Premier League (IPL) will be held Feb 12, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced Tuesday.

"The auction will be held on Feb 12 and if necessary on Feb 13. The venue of the auction will be announced soon," said the BCCI said in a statement.

The teams can retain up to five players and can't have more than 27 players in the squad, of which nine may be overseas players, according to the regulations laid down by the IPL Governing Council. They need to have at least 16 players to form the squad.

Players whether capped, uncapped, domestic or overseas must enter the auction if they were not part of the 2013 edition.

A franchise can spend up to Rs.60 crore on the players' fees with the cap increasing by five percent for 2015 and 2016. The minimum a team will have to shell out is Rs.36 crore in each of the next three IPL editions.

From now on, all players will be paid in Indian rupees and overseas players can be paid in the currency of their choice "at the prevailing exchange rate on either the actual date of payment or contract due date, whichever is beneficial to the player."

Teams will have to pay Rs.39 crore for retaining their five players, leaving them with Rs.21 crore to buy the rest of the 22 players. A retained player can earn a maximum of Rs.12.5 crore.

Under-19 cricketers must have played a First Class or List A game before signing the the IPL contract, the BCCI said.

By:IANS