The ownerless Multan Sultans franchise, taken over by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) last month after owner Ali Tareen bowed out, has now been put up for bidding ahead of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) in March.

Following Tareen’s departure from Multan Sultans in November after the PCB did not extend him a renewal offer, the national board announced it would take over the franchise for the upcoming 11th edition of the tournament, scheduled to run from March 26 to May 3.

The technical proposal for the bid has been set for January 30, 2026, at 3 pm, according to a post on social media.

In an advertisement, the PCB said that inviting bids is “presenting an opportunity for prospective investors to participate in the new era of HBL PSL”.

“Having been an integral part of the HBL PSL since its third edition in 2018, Multan already enjoys an established presence and following within the HBL PSL, presenting a compelling opportunity for investors to build on its legacy and take team Multan to unprecedented heights in the HBL PSL,” the advertisement read.

The development comes after two new franchises were added to the league last week. OZ Developers put forward a massive Rs1.85bn bid to win Sialkot, while the FKS Group secured Hyderabad for Rs1.75bn at the league’s auction on Thursday.

The cities up for potential franchise allocation included Faisalabad, Gilgit, Hyderabad, Muzaffarabad, Rawalpindi and Sialkot.

The current PSL teams include Lahore Qalandars, Islamabad United, Peshawar Zalmi, Quetta Gladiators, Karachi Kings and Multan Sultans.

Just hours before the auction was set to begin, Tareen announced on social media that he and his family would not be participating in the PSL auction.

“Our time with Multan Sultans was never just about owning a cricket team. It was about south Punjab,” he wrote in a post on X.

“[It was] about giving a voice to a region that had been overlooked for too long. That’s what drove everything we built.”