How Cricket Bidding Works: Rules and Bid Increments
Abhinath Jadhav · October 4, 2026
Key Takeaways
- Cricket bidding follows an ascending-price format: players start at a base price and the highest bid wins.
- Fix base prices, bid increments and squad limits before the auction starts.
- Agree a tie-break rule in advance, not live.
Cricket bidding in an IPL-style auction is simple in principle: a player is called, bids climb from a base price, and the highest bidder gets the player. The trouble is in the details nobody wrote down. Here is how bidding works and which rules to settle first.
The basic flow
The auctioneer calls a player and announces the base price. Team owners raise the bid in fixed steps. When no one raises further, the player goes to the highest bidder and the amount comes off that team's purse.
Rules to set before bidding starts
These are the rules that cause most disputes when left open.
- Base price per player category (marquee, A, B, C)
- Bid increments, for example a larger step above a certain price
- Total purse per team and minimum or maximum squad size
- Tie-break rule for simultaneous bids
- What happens to unsold players, such as a second accelerated round
Bid increments
Small fixed increments keep bidding slow and fair at low prices. A common approach is to make the step larger once bids pass a threshold so high-value players do not take ten minutes each. Pick numbers that fit your purse size.
Keep a reserve
Teams must keep enough purse to fill a minimum squad. A reserve rule, such as holding back the base price times the number of slots still empty, stops a team from spending itself out of a full XI. Software can enforce this automatically; by hand it is easy to miss.
Run it live
With AuctionBase the current bid and every team's remaining purse update in real time, so no one needs to do the maths on the side. Read the full how-to for round structure.
Frequently asked questions
What is a base price in a cricket auction?
The minimum starting bid for a player, usually set per category before the auction.
What is a bid increment?
The fixed amount a bid must rise by each time. It can be larger at higher prices.
How do you handle two bids at once?
Agree the tie-break rule before the auction. A common rule is that the first bid registered at that price wins.