PSL unveils date for Multan Sultans’ auction

LAHORE: The Pakistan Super League (PSL) on Wednesday announced that the highly anticipated auction of its franchise Multan Sultans, will be held on February 9.

A total of five bidders will battle to acquire the ownership rights of the 2021 champions, who were shortlisted by the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) bid committee after a “thorough and transparent” evaluation process.

“A total of six proposals were received from interested parties within the stipulated deadline. The PCB bid committee then carried out a thorough and transparent evaluation process,” the cricket board had said in a statement.

“Out of the six proposals, five (5) bidders have been termed technically qualified, who will now take part in the Auction process of the Multan Sultans. The date and venue for the Auction will be shared in due course,” it added.

For the unversed, the franchise has been without an owner following the landmark 10th edition of the marquee, as Ali Tareen decided against renewing the decade-long ownership contract.

Consequently, the PCB temporarily assumed control of the franchise and constituted an independent panel to oversee their retentions ahead of the players’ auction, set to be held on February 11.

The franchise, however, decided against retaining any player and instead opted to enter the players’ auction with a full USD 1.6 million in purse. “Multan Sultans will enter the PSL Players Auction with zero retentions and a full USD 1.6 million in the purse,” the franchise wrote. A total of 18 national cricketers were associated with the Sultans across various categories, including captain Mohammad Rizwan in the Platinum category.

As per the revised regulations for PSL 11, each franchise was permitted to retain up to four players from as many categories, contrary to the previous model, under which the teams were allowed to retain eight cricketers – a rule that remained in effect for the first 10 seasons. Staff Report