Ali Khan Tareen wins franchise rights for PSL ‘Sixth Team’

The Multan Consortium led by Ali Khan Tareen has won the franchise rights for the ‘Sixth Team’ of Pakistan Super League (PSL) by exceeding the reserve price.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has stated that the rights have been awarded for a period of seven years.

The reserve price set by PCB was $5.21 million per annum for a period of seven years. This reserve price has been exceeded by the bid winners.

Speaking on this occasion, Tareen showed keen desire about bringing talented cricketers from South Punjab to the fore.

"PSL is a platform through which we can showcase our [South Punjab’s] talent to the entire world,” said Tareen. “We will discover and nurture talent that can become part of the national team in the future"

He also floated the idea of a small scale PSL in Pakistan by stating: “There should be a junior PSL — which takes place entirely in Pakistan — where supplementary can take part.”

While speaking about the new name of the franchise, Tareen said: “We are ready to continue the previous name ‘Multan Sultans’ but first we will have to look into the legal ramifications of this. Although I can confirm that the first name of the team will be Multan."

Earlier the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had terminated the franchise agreement of the Multan Sultans. The termination was brought about due to the franchisee’s inability to meet its financial obligations under the Agreement.