The silent tie-breaker process is designed for situations during the IPL auction where franchises reach the same “last bid” for a player and one of them has already exhausted its purse.

This was first introduced in the 2010 IPL Auction and has been used only three times: Kieron Pollard and Shane Bond in 2010, and Ravindra Jadeja in 2012.

Also read | How deals for Pollard, Bond and Jadeja were decided through this rare auction rule

How will the tie-breaker bid in IPL Auction 2026 work?

In cases where two or more franchises are bidding for a player but one of them runs short of sufficient balance of their 2026 salary and others don’t have a next bid due to lack of funds, the auctioneer will ask the franchises whether they wish to make a matching bid. If the franchises opt not to place a matching bid, then the player will go to the franchise which made the last bid.

However, if at least one franchise places the bid, then the player will be declared ‘sold’ for the amount of the last bid and a tiebreak procedure will be invoked.

The teams will then submit a confidential written bid stating how much extra they are willing to pay above their final auction bid. This amount will be paid directly to the BCCI, not affecting the franchise’s purse, and has no upper limit. If the written bids match, the process is repeated until a winner is found.

Published on Dec 15, 2025