The Board of Control for Cricket in India(BCCI) and Indian Premier League(IPL) governing council have announced that the auction of next year's edition of the marquee event will be held in Jaipur on December 18.

Expected to be a one-day affair, the auction for 70 slots available - 50 Indians and 20 overseas players.

The eight franchises have a total available purse of Rs 145.25 crore. While Chennai Super Kings (CSK) needs to just fill in two spots (both Indians), Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) has 15 slots available (11 Indians, four overseas players) - the highest among the franchises.

The franchises, already busy in their preparations for the upcoming edition, also want clear information over where the league will be held in 2019 because India's general elections are scheduled to take place around a similar time as the tournament.

In 2014, the same situation forced the IPL governing council to play first 20 games in the United Arab Emirates but it is learned, that the eight franchises weren't happy with the slow nature of the surfaces in Dubai and Abu Dhabi and prefer South Africa as the best alternative venue. The rainbow nation also hosted the whole event, quite famously, in 2009.

Also, with the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 scheduled to start on May 30 next year, it is expected the league will commence from March 29 and run till the second week of May, which is in discussion to be further advanced by a week.

Salary cap available: Rs 145.25 crore

Player slots available: 70 (Indian 50, overseas 20)

Number of players retained: 130 (Overseas players: 44)

Total money spent: Rs. 510.75 crore

(Inputs from PTI)