Pakistan Super League franchise (PSL) Multan Sultans on Monday was sold to Walee Technologies for a record Rs2.45 billion ahead of the tournament’s 11th edition.

At the auction in Lahore, show host Fakhr-i-Alam informed bidders that the winning bid would also cover the annual fee to maintain ownership of the team for the next 10 years.

Speaking at the auction ceremony, the new owner of the team announced that they would be changing the name to Rawalpindi.

“Are you ready for a surprise? We will be going for Rawalpindi!” announced the company’s chief executive officer, Ahsan Tahir.

Speaking at the ceremony, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Mohsin Naqvi congratulated Walee Technologies on their successful bid and expressed gratitude to former board chairman Najam Sethi for his vision for the Multan Sultans franchise.

“Multan Sultans was created by Najam Sethi sahib; we are so pleased he is with us today,” Naqvi said, inviting Sethi onto the stage.

In his remarks, Sethi said, “I’m obviously delighted to be here; this is the culmination of a dream come true.

“I’m obviously over the moon that it’s come through under Mohsin Naqvi, who is a dear, dear friend of mine,” he said.

Sethi hailed the winning bid as a “great moment for Pakistan cricket”, adding that Naqvi would give good news “beyond PSL” over the coming days.

Later, at a press conference with representatives from Walee Technologies, Naqvi said that the future of the Multan Sultans brand would have to be considered.

“I cannot ask the person paying Rs2.45bn to keep the name Multan Sultans,” he said.

“When we discussed auctioning Multan Sultans, we planned to keep it for one or two years. But there was a good environment in the market and we were already auctioning five or six teams,” he said.

The PCB chief noted that there were concerns, given the brand’s age and the possibility of damage to its reputation.

“For me, Multan Sultans is very close to my heart, so we will come up with a solution,” Naqvi said.

When asked about the criteria for setting the opening bid at Rs1.82bn, he replied that it was the second-highest bid for the Sialkot team, which was sold for Rs1.85bn.

To a question about ongoing meetings with a delegation from the International Cricket Council (ICC) over Pakistan’s boycott of the match with India in the T20 World Cup, Naqvi replied, “The issue was Bangladesh’s. We did not want to let their point of view go; they are our brothers and you saw the situation.

“Things are happening, which is why I won’t say much, but the ICC and the Bangladesh board are in that phase where if I say anything, it won’t be right. We’ll update you once we receive information,” the PCB chief said.

Naqvi said that “guests need to be respected” when asked about the attitude of the visiting ICC delegation.

Walee Technologies is a global company specialising in projects in the media, finance and technology sectors, according to their website, which added that the company had also earlier acquired PSL livestreaming rights.

The Multan franchise, started in 2017, competed in eight consecutive editions of the PSL, winning the league in 2021.

Last November, the franchise was left ownerless after the PCB did not extend a renewal offer to owner Ali Khan Tareen. The PCB then announced it would take over the franchise for the upcoming tournament.

Bids were invited on January 14 and their technical evaluation was completed by February 3.