Walee Technologies change sixth PSL franchise's name to Rawalpindi after record bid

LAHORE: Walee Technologies' owner Ahsan Tahir on Monday announced rebranding the Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchise Multan Sultans by changing the city name to Rawalpindi following the star-studded auction here at the Expo Centre.

The announcement came after Walee Technologies acquired the ownership rights of the franchise for a staggering Rs 2.45 billion following a bidding war, most prominently with CD Venturers, who put forward the second-highest bid but were eventually forced to bow out.

Notably, the winning party was allowed to rebrand the franchise, and their owner, Ahsan Tahir, decided to exercise the right and announced to name the franchise after Rawalpindi.

However, the rebranding of the franchise will be completed following the approval of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Naqvi, who, later at the press conference, hinted at accepting the proposal despite expressing remorse for the existing "brand" of Multan Sultans.

"I have an affection for Multan Sultans. When he [Ahsan] announced changing the city name, my heart got sad because it is our brand and we will now definitely think about its future," said Naqvi at the press conference with new team owners.

"But, instructing someone who is spending 2.45 billion rupees to keep or let go of Multan Sultans was not possible. I cannot do anything about it," he added.

The PCB Chairman, however, assured fans that they will deliberate on the future of Multan Sultans' brand, which he described as very close to his heart.

Naqvi further revealed that when the management decided to auction the franchise, there were divided opinions on its rebranding, which grew in support due to the damage it sustained recently.

"Initially, the plan was to run Multan Sultans for a year, but then we decided to auction it, acknowledging the environment of the market […], but at that time the idea was to give the [winning bidders] an option of [rebranding]," Naqvi shared.

"There were two different opinions, one was that 'Multan Sultans is our established brand' and the second was that 'the brand of Multan Sultans was damaged', but to me, Multan Sultans remain very close to my heart and will definitely think something for it."