NEW DELHI: Young batting sensation Umar Akmal and paceman Mohammad Aamir are among 26 Pakistan cricketers to register for the Indian Premier League (IPL) player auction later this month. Pakistan’s players last month missed the deadline to secure the necessary clearances to participate in the IPL, meaning they must go through the auction process to compete in the third edition of the lucrative Indian domestic Twenty20 competition. It now depends on whether the individual IPL franchises have slots available for more overseas recruits. In all, 97 players from around the world have registered for the January 19 IPL auction, and if franchises have expressed interest in any of those players, they will be informed on Tuesday. Last year, over 100 players registered but only 50 were put on auction for the 17 available overseas places. Four Pakistanis — Misbah-ul-Haq, Umar Gul, Kamran Akmal and Sohail Tanvir — had their IPL contracts suspended and have already been replaced by other overseas players by their respective franchises. Bangalore Royal Challengers secured South Africa’s Roelof van der Merwe in place of Misbah. South African fast bowler Charl Langeveldt has replaced Gul at Kolkata Knight Riders, while the Rajhastan Royals brought in Johan Botha in place of Akmal and Tanvir. The list of Pakistani players also include a number of cricketers who have now severed their ties with the unauthorized Indian Cricket League (ICL). Players like Azhar Mahmood, Mohammad Sami, Rana Naved, Imran Farhat, Imran Nazir and Saqlain Mushtaq all competed in the ICL. Pakistan won the Twenty20 World Cup this year and their players would ordinarily be in high demand, but relations between the neighboring countries remains strained. Some 11 Pakistan players took part in 2008’s inaugural IPL season, but they were banned from the 2009 competition after the Mumbai terror attacks, even when the competition was moved to South Africa. Sri Lanka (17), South Africa (12), New Zealand (9), Australia (9), West Indies (8), England (8), Bangladesh (2), Canada (2), Zimbabwe (2), Ireland (1) and Netherlands (1) are the other nations from which players have registered.