IPL 2023 Auction: What is a silent tie-breaker bid in IPL auction?

The IPL 2023 auction is almost live, as all the participating ten franchises look to bolster their attack ahead of the 16th edition of the prestigious competition. A total of 405 players are set to go under the hammer in the auction on December 23 in Kochi. In an attempt to oversee a smooth sailing mini-auction, the governing body for cricket in India, BCCI, have reintroduced the tie-breaker rule. In an event of a tied bid for a player, a silent written bid will be employed to decide the winner.

The tie-breaker rule will come into effect when two or more franchises have bid the same amount for a player and do not have sufficient funds in their 2023 salary caps to further increase their bids. The player will be declared sold by the auctioneer on the tied bid. However, the BCCI will invite the franchises, who made a matching bid for the player. They will have to submit a ‘silent’ written bid on a form provided by the BCCI.

The BCCI will open the written bids and award the player to the franchise with the highest tie-breaking bid. The process will be repeated until there is a winner. It is worth noting that the tiebreaking bid is a separate sum of money that will not be deducted from the salary cap of the respective franchise. The winning franchise will sign the player in the amount of their last bid in the auction as the fee of the player.

Meanwhile, the tiebreaking bid amount is to be paid to the BCCI within 30 days of the Player Auction.

“The Tiebreak Bid will indicate the amount, payable in one installment that the franchisee is prepared to pay to BCCI. The amount of the Tiebreak Bid is separate from and in addition to the amount of the Last Bid. The Tiebreak Bid is the separate amount, which the Franchisee is prepared to pay to BCCI and is not deducted from the relevant Franchisee’s Salary Cap. There is no limit on the amount of the Tiebreak Bid,” the BCCI have informed the teams.