Calcutta: The auction of new players for the Indian Premier League’s second edition will be held on February 6 without a ceiling on the number of “uncapped” cricketers a franchise can acquire, the Twenty20 League’s governing body said on Wednesday.

“A player auction will be held on February 6, 2009 for new players that did not feature in the IPL 2008 season. All overseas players will, however, require an NOC to play in the IPL,” the IPL governing body said in a statement.

“Outside the auction process but subject to the squad composition rules with respect to overseas players, each franchise will have the option to purchase any number of uncapped new players by a direct agreement,” it added.

Uncapped players will be the ones who have never played senior international cricket nor have a central contract with their national associations.

Each franchise will have a sum of $2 million to spend on player fees in 2009 for cricketers acquired either in the auction, or through signing uncapped new players or re-signing any 2008 temporary replacements.

The decisions were made at a meeting of the franchises here Tuesday to apprise them about the player trading regulations for the 2009 season. The IPL trading window opens on December 22.