PSL Auction: Hyderabad, Sialkot added as PSL expands to eight teams

ISLAMABAD: The much-awaited Pakistan Super League (PSL) auction for two new franchise teams took place at the Jinnah Convention Centre, with strong interest from leading companies.

06:30 PM – Sialkot confirmed as eighth team
After the bidding ended, Sialkot was officially confirmed as the home city of the eighth PSL team.

05:50 PM – Auction for eighth PSL team begins
The bidding for Team 8 started with a base price of PKR 1.7 billion. Several companies took part in the auction.
Aim Next Inc. and i2c made early bids, followed by aggressive counters from OZ Developers.
After intense competition, OZ Developers won the team with the highest bid of PKR 1.85 billion.

05:30 PM – Hyderabad confirmed as seventh team
Earlier, FKS owner Fawad Sarwar confirmed that his newly purchased team will represent Hyderabad.
FKS secured the seventh team with a record bid of PKR 1.75 billion.

05:00 PM – Auction begins
The PSL franchise auction officially started with 10 qualified bidders competing for the two new teams.
The base price for Team 7 was set at PKR 1.1 billion, and bidding continued for several rounds before FKS emerged as the winner.

Auction rules

All bids were quoted in Pakistani Rupees (PKR), with a minimum increase of PKR 10 million per bid.
Each bidder was allowed one strategic timeout of up to five minutes during each round.
A bidding round was closed once no higher bid was made after the final call by the auctioneer.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) confirmed that the qualified bidders included Inverex Solar Energy, OZ Group of Companies, VGO TEL Mobile, Jazz, DSM, i2c, Prism Estate & Builders, Walee, Aim Next Inc., and FKS.

Winning franchises were allowed to choose their home city from a PCB-approved list, which included Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Hyderabad, Sialkot, Muzaffarabad, and Gilgit.

The addition of two new teams marks a major expansion of the PSL and adds more excitement for cricket fans across Pakistan.