What is a secret bid in the IPL auction?

With the bidding war at the IPL 2022 mega auction set to play itself out over the next two days in Bangalore, we focus today on the rarely explored topic of the secret bid or the silent tie-breaker rule associated with the auction process.

What exactly is a secret bid and why it is relevant ahead of the IPL 2022 mega auction will be the point of attention of this piece with a likely example in front of us.

Let’s start from the top. The IPL’s secret bid or the silent tie-breaker rule was introduced way back in 2010. Initially designed for smaller auctions, the idea behind the rule is to break the deadlock in case two or more franchises make the equal maximum bid for a player. The rule has been available for use but has never been in play during a mega auction.

The secret bid rule would come into play when a franchise initially makes its “last bid” for a player, having exhausted its purse entirely. Now, if there happens to be a “matching bid” from a second franchise that equals, but doesn’t overhaul, the amount that the first franchise has made their bid with, these two teams or franchises will enter the silent tie-breaker battle.

In this tussle, both those franchises would have to submit a “written bid” (secret bid) for the player stating the money they are willing to pay for the player above the last or the matching bid. Interestingly, the amount in the written bid will go to the BCCI and not the player. In case, the “written bid” is also equal, the process will have to be repeated.

Also Read – IPL 2022 Mega Auction: 5 Overseas Players Who Can Start A Bidding War

“The tiebreak bid (secret bid) will indicate the amount, payable in one installment, in Indian rupees, that the franchisee is prepared to pay to BCCI (not the player) in order to secure the player’s services for the IPL 2022 season,” the IPL governing council is learnt to have told all ten franchises set to enter IPL 2022 mega auction, as reported by ESPNcricinfo.

“The amount of the tiebreak bid is separate from and in addition to the amount of the last bid or the amount of the matching bid as appropriate, both of which constitute the bid for the player.”

“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 league’s apex council further said to the franchises on Wednesday (February 9).

Would we have a secret bid inclusion at the IPL 2022 mega auction?

Okay, we kinda a get it. But why is there focus on ‘secret bid’ today?

It is because there is a chance, no matter how slender, that England speedster Jofra Archer could find himself in the midst of a tussle involving the secret bid by two or more franchises.

Firstly, the basics. Archer, who has listed his base prize at INR 2 crores, is slotted in the third allrounders set. The ace quick and a handy lower-order bat was a late entrant to the final list of players up for grabs at the bidding war.

Archer hadn’t himself entered the long list of players that will go under the hammer but was included in a set of 44 cricketers that the ten franchises had asked the IPL governing council to add to the final list of 590.

Archer’s mega auction entry has taken place despite IPL making it clear that he is “unlikely” to be available for the 2022 season as he continues the final stages of recovery from a persistent elbow issue. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has already said they don’t expect Archer to be on the park before June this year.

So why have the IPL franchises asked Archer to put his name in the final list? It is because they seemed to have communicated to the IPL that they may consider him with a “view to potential participation” in the next two seasons of the tournament in 2023 and 2024.

In such a scenario, in case an IPL team bids for Archer but he doesn’t play the upcoming season, the team will not get a replacement; however, they would’ve secured his services for the next two seasons when he is expected to be fit.

The ‘secret bid’ is relevant here because of where Archer is placed in the final list and the time when his name is likely to come up. Listed as player number 171, Archer’s name will come up for bidding as many as ten slots after the accelerated bidding process would’ve begun.

The secret bid or the silent tie-breaker could come into play for Archer because, it is believed, by the time his name comes up for consideration, franchises would’ve already exhausted most of their allotted purse or would be on the verge of having nothing left to spend.

If franchises have built a sizeable squad but have some money available to spend on Archer in the accelerated bidding process, they could go all out on Archer, exhaust their purse and enter the secret bidding process or a silent tie-breaker with another side.

During the accelerated process, which begins after the first 18 sets of players (161 players in total) have gone under the hammer, teams get to pick and submit names of players that they are most interested in from the lot of unsold cricketers and the ones that are about to come up for bidding.

The two-part mega auction for IPL 2022 will be held in Bangalore on February 12 & 13.