What is the lesser-known 'Silent Tiebreaker' rule in Indian T20 League ?

The upcoming mega auction has been one of the most anticipated events for quite a while now. All the ten teams would have surely made their auction strategies by now. With 590 players set to go under the hammer, the upcoming weekend shall witness a tug-of-war between teams.

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Over the years, there have been several instances where a franchise has gone all out to fetch one player. Yet, there hasn't been a scenario where the team has spent all its purse on one individual. Although such a situation is yet to arise, but the Indian T20 League management has a specific rule for this purpose, and it is known as "Silent Tiebreaker".

This rule has been there since 2010 but has been used in different ways. Earlier, compared to the present, there used to be cappings on the maximum bids allowed for cricketers. Players like Kieron Pollard, Ravindra Jadeja and Shane Bond have been bought in the auctions using this rule in the past. However, this rule has now changed. This "Silent Tiebreaker can now come into play only when a team spends its entire purse.

This is only possible during the fag end of an auction. Thus, this "Silent Tiebreaker" will now come into the picture when one franchises' final bid for a player has been matched by another franchise, but they don't have any money left in the purse. Even if the respective team doesn't have any money to spend in order to acquire the player who has a higher bid, the team will be given the opportunity to sign this player with a "Silent Tiebreaker" bid.

If such a situation arises, both the teams involved in bidding for the player will need to submit a written bid stating the amount that they are ready to pay for the player over and above the 'last bid' that they had earlier submitted. It is to be noted that there is no limit to the amount the franchises can submit in the "Silent Tiebreaker". At the end, this amount will have to be deposited to the BCCI, outside the remaining purse.