PTI 
 
NEW DELHI, Dec 22: Business tycoon Vijay Mallya, the owner of Indian Premier League franchise Bangalore Royal Challengers, on Monday dismissed reports that his team and its players were up for sale.

"There has been some misinterpretation of a statement issued by my Bangalore office. I wish to clarify that the Bangalore Royal Challengers team is not for sale and neither do we seek to transfer a majority of our current players," Mallya said in a statement.

Mallya, however, said there was a possibility of swapping players to achieve a better balance of the team.

"We have identified three foreign players who will be willing to swap with other IPL teams, if possible, to achieve better team balance," he said.

"If this does not happen, we will further strengthen the team by signing up more Indian youngsters and participating aggressively in the next players auction," he said.

The auction for the second season of IPL will start from February 6.

Rahul Dravid-led Royal Challengers had drawn criticism for including players suitable for Test cricket, who failed to impress in the inaugural season of the cash-rich Twenty20 League.