The auction began with the recitation of the Holy Quran, followed by the national anthem.
PSL CEO Salman Naseer welcomed the five qualified bidders before Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Mohsin Naqvi officially inaugurated the auction by hammering the gong. Later, moderator Sidra Iqbal listed down the rules for the auction, while auctioneer Fakhre Alam revealed the base price of the franchise to be Rs1.82 billion.
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Soon after the base price was announced, the interested parties engaged in a bidding war until the winning bidder made their return with a staggering bid of Rs 2.45 billion, which proved decisive.
The representatives of winning bidder then received the celebratory key to the franchise from the PCB chairman, following which they revealed changing the city name from Multan to Rawalpindi. Among the five qualified bidders was former owner of the franchise Ali Tareen, who decided against renewing the decade-long ownership contract following the landmark 10th edition of the marquee league.
Consequently, the PCB temporarily assumed control of the franchise, and its chairman had announced that the cricket board would oversee the matters of the former champions for the PSL 11, scheduled to run from March 26 to May 3.
However, the cricket board later reversed its decision and announced to auction the Sultans.
