Former Multan Sultans owner Tareen pulls out of PSL auction

Former Multan Sultans owner Ali Tareen, who walked away from the franchise at the end of last year, has announced he is pulling out of the auction for one of the two new PSL franchises. The decision, which came at the very last minute, was announced by Tareen on X (formerly Twitter), where he stated he intended to bid for Multan Sultans when it went up for sale after the PSL.

"After careful consideration, my family and I have decided not to participate in today's PSL franchise auction," Tareen said on X. "Our time with Multan Sultans was never just about owning a cricket team. It was about South Punjab.

"If I come back to PSL, it has to be for the same reason. South Punjab is where my heart is. It is home. When the Multan team is being sold, we'll be ready. Wishing all the bidders the best."

Tareen would not be drawn on what prompted the change of heart. ESPNcricinfo understands he arrived in Islamabad with an intention to attend to auction early in the afternoon. Over the past week, Tareen had made no secret of his desire to purchase one of the two teams up for sale today, and crowdsourced ideas for team names on his X account.

By the time Tareen's decision was made public, most of the other prospective bidders had already arrived and were speaking to the media. Tareen's withdrawal leaves nine other bidders for the two teams. The team's city names will be left up to successful bidders, who can choose between Faisalabad, Sialkot, Rawalpindi, Hyderabad, Gilgit and Muzaffarabad. Teams can also be named after a city outside of these six, though it is understood to involve an additional payment in the region of USD 1 million.

Multan Sultans, who Tareen left at the end of last year after an increasingly bitter dispute with the PSL's management, will be run by the PCB this year. It will be put up for sale after the PSL concludes, with Tareen already making public his desire to retake ownership of it.