Wellington, Jan 6 NZPA - The Indian Premier League (IPL) has removed New Zealander Chris Cairns from the list of cricketers registering for a player auction later this month.

The 39-year-old, who was most recently aligned to the unsanctioned Indian Cricket League (ICL) Twenty20 competition, was originally included in the 97 players chasing a contract, but his name has now been removed, reducing the list to 96.

New Zealand players still registered for auction include Shane Bond, Ian Butler, Brendon Diamanti, Grant Elliott, Martin Guptill, Nathan McCullum, Daryl Tuffey, Lou Vincent.

Cairns could not be reached for comment today.