PCB set to take the reins of Multan Sultans ahead of PSL as board will bring in former cricketers and experts to take over.
PCB to run Multan Sultans franchise for next PSL season.
For the PSL 2026 season, the PCB will manage the Multan Sultans team independently rather than seeking an outside buyer. PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi declared at a press conference that the board will hire specialists and former cricket players to manage the team for the league’s eleventh season before making it available to prospective buyers following the season.
“As soon as the PSL ends, we will auction the franchise off, and in the next eight to ten days, we will appoint an acting head to run the franchise,” Naqvi said.
Citing regulations requiring the sale to be advertised a set amount of time before to the auction, Naqvi stated that the franchise could not be sold alongside the two new franchises, which would be put up for public auction in Islamabad on January 8. He said that there was not enough time left to achieve an independent sale for Sultans because the PSL would begin in late March.
Ali Tareen, the former Sultans owner, declared last month that he was leaving the franchise. Tareen and the PSL management, whom he had openly and repeatedly accused of lacking ambition and transparency, got into an increasingly acrimonious argument before the decision was made.
In response, he received a legal notification from the PCB accusing him of violating his ownership contract and requesting a retraction and public apology. In response, Tareen posted a mocking “apology” video in which he tore up the notification they had sent.
Tareen became more and more excluded from conversations in the weeks leading up to the eleventh season. The only owner who did not receive a letter of renewal offer was him. Last week, Tareen threatened to file a lawsuit since Sultans had not heard back from the PCB chairman or the PSL management.
The PCB might have to find purchasers for three teams instead of just two when Tareen’s ownership of the team formally ended on December 31. Naqvi praised Tareen for “having done a lot of work” on Sultans and seemed to imply that the door was open for him to purchase one of the other two franchises.
“Unfortunately, what happened was an issue that I don’t want to discuss. But we’d absolutely welcome Ali back. If he wants to buy a new team he can bid for it by all means”.