PCB puts Multan Sultans up for auction

The PCB has decided to put Multan Sultans up for auction ahead of the 11th season of the PSL, which begins on March 26. A tender inviting bids for Sultans has been issued, with interested parties asked to submit technical proposals by January 30.

This change of heart from the PCB ends the brief notion it entertained of running Multan Sultans in-house this season, as PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi said last month. To that end, Sultans were not put up for sale when the two newly added teams were auctioned off last week in Islamabad.

ESPNcricinfo reported on Monday that the proposal to auction the Sultans had the support of senior officials at the PCB and the PSL, and only awaited a final sign-off from Naqvi. The PSL is understood to have been buoyed by the high prices at which the two new teams, Hyderabad and Sialkot, were sold - for PKR 1.75 and PKR 1.85 billion, respectively. The sales, which took place at an auction, far exceeded the PCB's expectations, with the franchise fees nearly three times that of Lahore Qalandars, the most valuable of the existing PSL sides.

PSL officials to feel the sales make this a particularly opportune environment to secure the highest possible price for Sultans. Unlike the two new teams, Sultans is already an established PSL franchise, which has taken part in eight PSL seasons and won the title in 2021. As such, PSL officials are optimistic that a sale before the season would fetch the highest asking price of all.

While a number of bidders at the auction for the other two teams exited the bidding war earlier as the numbers soared, i2c, a financial technology company, was among the prime contenders for both franchises before ultimately ending up on the losing side. Their highest bid went up to PKR 1.82 billion, and the firm would, in theory, be among the favourites should they throw their hat in the ring.

Sultans previous owner, Ali Tareen, whose decision to walk away from the franchise at the end of last year resulted in the PCB's search for a new buyer, withdrew from the auction for one of the two new franchises at the last minute, but promised to return when Sultans would be put up for sale.

The resolution of Sultans' ownership situation is one of a number of significant decisions concerning this edition of the PSL that are unresolved. The PSL has not yet announced a draft date for the squads, which cannot happen until Sultans' new owner is in place. The addition of two new teams has also led to disagreements around how many players existing franchises should be able to retain. The PSL is also understood to be considering an auction rather than a draft model, at least for the higher categories of players.

A PSL general council meeting discussing these issues is scheduled for Friday.