The Multan Consortium led by Ali Tareen beat off competition from a South African group to win the franchise rights for Pakistan Super League’s (PSL) Sixth Team.

Son of leading Pakistan businessman and ex-politician Jahangir Tareen, Ali had been vying the rights for the former Multan Sultans franchise ever since it was declared defunct by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) earlier this year.

The PCB had retaken the complete franchise rights of the team after previous owners Schon Group’s failure to meet their financial obligations. The franchise had been renamed as the Sixth Team for the interim period while the PCB invited bids for new ownership.

Brought under the business name of the JWD Groups, the new owners have secured the franchise rights of the team for a period of seven years.

The group’s winning bid of USD 6.35 million per year was significantly above the reserve price of USD 5.21 million set by the PCB.

The new owner of the franchise has confirmed that the team will retain the Multan name but has invited suggestions for the second moniker. Tareen also stressed that he would be open to retaining the Multan Sultans brand name should the PCB’s legal team express no reservations.

The franchise had participated in the recent PSL player draft under the aegis of the Sixth Team and had managed to secure the services of banned Australia star Steve Smith for the upcoming edition.

The 2019 edition of the PSL will get underway in the UAE in February 14 with as many as eight matches of the tournament set to take place on Pakistan soil.