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More New Zealand players are expected to be available for hire when the Indian Premier League holds a second auction in Mumbai on Tuesday night.
And some players are understood to have been paid retainers between $50,000 and $100,000 by the officially approved IPL to prevent them being lured to the alternative, rebel Indian Cricket League.
The retainers are in the form of non-playing payments, which would change if they are picked up in the auction for the tournament, due to start on April 18.
Five New Zealand players are already signed up for the inaugural IPL _ test quartet Daniel Vettori, Jacob Oram, Brendon McCullum and Stephen Fleming, along with ODI-only batsman Scott Styris.
Among those who might figure next week are in-form batsmen Ross Taylor and Jamie How; and for those franchises short on new-ball bowling strength, Kyle Mills and Chris Martin.
Had Jesse Ryder not been sidelined for the next few months with a damaged finger, he would have seemed a certainty with his explosive top-order batting.
The IPL is determined to shut out the rival Twenty20 competition - which starts its second competition with an enlarged group of 10 franchises tomorrow night - and have explored a variety of methods of preventing the ICL gaining current internationals.
It is tightlipped on which players will be on offer to its franchises.
Most are expected to be Indians, with the prospect of some English players from outside their key centrally-contracted group, being signed on.
Indian wicketkeeper and ODI captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni fetched the highest price in the first auction, US$1.5 million ($1.88 million).
Players on IPL contracts are free to continue playing international cricket. However, in the case of three of the New Zealanders - Vettori, Oram and McCullum - they might make a late start to the forthcoming tour of England to fit in a handful of games for their franchises.
New Zealand Cricket chief executive Justin Vaughan said contractual details between players and the IPL, which is run under the umbrella of the Indian board, was for those two parties to sort out.
"It's directly between the IPL and the player. New Zealand isn't party to their agreements," he said last night.
He had no information which New Zealand players might go under the hammer in Mumbai, but "we're hoping one or two might get in".
On the auction and retainer payments, Vaughan's position is that "anything that would keep players playing for New Zealand is a good thing".
If payments are coming through the hands of the Indian board, "it's certainly no problem (for NZC)".
The first auction on February 20 had franchises forking out US$42 million for 75 players, with McCullum the priciest New Zealand player at US$700,000. Payments are on a pro rata basis.
Players in the second auction won't fetch the exorbitant figures of the first event, as franchises are still bound by a US$5 million cap.
Unused money from that, plus money which won't have to be paid to players who are unavailable for large chunks of the league, can go towards buying additional players.
INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE
(officially approved by International Cricket Council): Daniel Vettori, Brendon McCullum, Jacob Oram, Stephen Fleming, Scott Styris.
INDIAN CRICKET LEAGUE
(rebel competition organised by an Indian media group): Chris Cairns, Chris Harris, Hamish Marshall, Nathan Astle, Daryl Tuffey, Craig McMillan, Andre Adams, Shane Bond, Adam Parore, Lou Vincent.
