February 17, 2008	Sunday	Safar 09, 1429

MELBOURNE, Feb 16: A Cricket Australia (CA) rule has created an eleventh-hour glitch in talks to permit its contracted players to participate in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

IPL commissioner Lalit Modi has set a Sunday deadline for registration for Thursday’s player auction, but that’s in doubt due to a condition that stops more than two Australians playing for the same overseas team.

Sixteen Australians have shown their interest in joining the Twenty20 contest but CA wants to wait until after the draft before releasing any of them to satisfy its limit.

“The long-standing regulation, which was around back when Cricket Australia was the ‘Australian Cricket Board’, means we won’t give clearance to more than two players in an overseas domestic team,” Peter Young, CA’s general manager said.—Agencies