Are you aware of this lesser-known rule that has existed in Indian T20 League for a decade?

The Indian T20 League auction has been very straightforward. The teams are allowed a budget, and they have to select their players under the assigned budget. But, the BCCI has some details clear in their rules. If there is a situation where the team's purse is exhausted and another team matches their bid price, a rule called 'silent tiebreaker' exists.

The rule comes into play when a team's last bid is matched by another team but their purse is exhausted to make further bids on a player. The franchises will be given a chance to buy this player in the silent tiebreaker. The teams will be giving a written bid for the amount they are willing to pay for the player and the team with the higher bid wins. In case the price is matched again, they will have to repeat the process until there is an outcome. The team winning the bid will have to pay the surplus amount after the exhaustion of the purse to the BCCI and not the player.

The rule has existed since 2010 but any such situation has never arisen. However, the rule has come into play in a different situation. Earlier, there were price caps for players, and teams were not allowed to pay players beyond that. Kieron Pollard, Ravindra Jadeja, and Shane Bond have been purchased by this rule in the Indian T20 League auction.

Franchises have questioned this rule in the past, but it was never revoked. The rule was imposed 12 years ago and still exists in the auction. The next mega auction will begin on the 12th of February and continue till the 13th of February. Bangalore will host this mega event.