ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced this week it has cleared 10 interested parties to bid for its two new Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchises next month.
Pakistan will hold the 11th edition of the PSL next year from Mar. 26 to May 11, with two new franchises set to debut. The PCB held roadshows in New York and London this month to attract investors to buy the new franchises and invited interested parties to bid for the teams.
The PCB said earlier this week that 12 interested parties had bid for the two teams.
“Following a thorough and transparent evaluation process, the PCB Bid Committee has qualified 10 Bidders who have successfully met the technical criteria and now enter the second stage,” the board said in a statement on Saturday.
The PCB said these 10 bidders will now participate in the auction scheduled to be held on Thursday, Jan. 8 at the Jinnah Convention Center in Pakistan’s capital city, Islamabad.
It said there the franchise rights for the two new HBL PSL teams will be up for grabs.
“At the auction, the successful bidders will have the right to choose their franchise team names from among the following: Rawalpindi, Hyderabad, Faisalabad, Gilgit, Muzaffarabad and Sialkot,” it said.
PSL CEO Salman Naseer congratulated the qualified bidders for clearing the process.
“The league looks forward to achieving another significant milestone in the expansion and evolution of the HBL PSL as we now prepare for the eagerly awaited auction,” he said.
The PSL is Pakistan’s premier T20 cricket league that features a mix of local and international players and coaches. It features six teams, each named after a Pakistani city.
With a little over 10 years since it was launched, the PSL has attracted praise from cricket experts and analysts worldwide and competed for viewership with prominent cricket leagues around the world such as the Big Bash League, Caribbean Premier League, Indian Premier League and others.
