The player’s auction for the sixth edition of Indian Premier League will be held in January next year either in Chennai or Kolkata. According to sources in the IPL, the auction would take place either on January 12 in Chennai or eight days later in Kolkata. This was decided by the governing council of the IPL, headed by Rajeev Shukla, which met on Wednesday.

The participation of Pakistani players in the auction, paving the way for their re-entry into the cash-rich T20 tournament, will be decided by the IPL governing council at its next meeting before the players’ auction. Pakistani cricketers, who played in the inaugural season in 2007, were kept out of the IPL player’s auction since the Mumbai terror attacks in 2008.

Meanwhile, Kings XI Punjab has decided to pay a penalty of Rs 1 crore to the Cricket Board and bury their differences after they had dragged the BCCI to the court for arbitration proceedings following the termination their contract for alleged breach of regulations. “Kings XI has sorted out their differences with BCCI by deciding to pay the penalty,” a source said.

Kings XI Punjab will continue to be part of IPL pending the completion of the arbitration proceedings.