LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Saturday announced that its bid committee has completed the technical evaluation process of bids submitted by parties interested in acquiring the franchise of two new Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchises.
According to the cricket board, the committee “thoroughly” evaluated the proposals from 12 parties from five different continents and after a three-day long review, shortlisted 10 bidders who met the technical criteria and qualified for the second phase.
“The PCB Bidding Committee has successfully completed the technical evaluation of the proposals submitted by the bidders for the sale of the two new HBL PSL franchise teams,” the cricket board said in a statement.
“A total of 12 proposals were received from interested parties within the stipulated deadline from all over the world and were scrutinized by the PCB Bidding Committee over the last three days.
“Following a thorough and transparent evaluation process, the PCB Bidding Committee has shortlisted 10 bidders who have successfully met the technical criteria and have now entered the second phase.”
After shortlisting, 10 technically qualified bidders will now participate in the auction to be held on January 8 at the Jinnah Convention Center in Islamabad and will get the right to choose their team names from six cities namely Hyderabad, Muzaffarabad, Sialkot, Faisalabad, Gilpinkitabad and Rawal.
Notably, the PSL, which started with five franchises in 2016 and later expanded to six sides in 2018, has further expanded with the addition of two new teams from its upcoming 11th edition to be played next year.
With the upcoming additions, PSL will undergo its first major overhaul in seven years, bringing the total number of franchises to eight.