IPL Auction 2025: What is a silent tie-breaker bid in IPL auction?

The IPL 2025 auction is almost upon the world as all the participating ten franchises look to bolster their attack ahead of the 18th edition of the prestigious competition. A total of 333 players are set to go under the hammer in the auction on November 24 and 25 in Jeddah.

In an attempt to oversee a smooth sailing mini-auction, the governing body for cricket in India, BCCI, have a tie-breaker rule in place. In an event of a tied bid for a player, a silent written bid will be employed to decide the winner.

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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 2025 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 tie breaking 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 tie breaking bid amount is to be paid to the BCCI within 30 days of the Player Auction.

“The Tie break Bid will indicate the amount, payable in one instalment, that the franchisee is prepared to pay to BCCI. The amount of the Tie-break 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 Tie-break Bid,” the BCCI have informed the teams.

Why is the IPL 2025 auction a 'mega auction'?

The auction for the impending 2025 season has been set as a mega auction as a lot of teams have been forced to shuffle their existing squads, and an upper limit was kept on the number of players to be retained for the forthcoming season. A mega auction takes place once in every three years.

The IPL Governing Council suggested a maximum of six retentions per franchise, or usage of RTM (Right-To-Match) card, or a combination of both to build their 25-member squads. Since, out of 25, only up to six players are allowed to be reserved for their services yet again, the auction in Jeddah has become a mega event. Moreover, the auction is taking place over the course of a couple of days, which is not the case in a mini auction.

Notably, a total of 577 players are supposed to go under the hammer at the mega event for the 18th edition of the cash-rich league. There are two sets of marquee players, with six names each.