Has Rawalpindi franchise changed its name ahead of PSL 11?

KARACHI: The Rawalpindi franchise of the Pakistan Super League (PSL), officially Pindiz, has made tweaks to its username on social media platforms, fuelling speculations regarding a change in its nomenclature.

The franchise, which was rebranded from Multan Sultans to the Pindiz after being acquired by Walee Technologies at the historic auction last month, changed its username on social media platforms to "RawalPINDIZ", hinting at a possible change to its official nomenclature.

Although the franchise did not make a formal announcement regarding the potential change in its nomenclature, the development came after the PSL administration had asked the franchise to include the full name of the relevant city.

The marquee league has been using the city's name while referring to the Pindiz franchise since it announced the match schedule for its highly anticipated 11th edition, scheduled to run from March 26 to May 3.

In the schedule, the PSL management referred to the franchise as "Rawalpindi Pindiz", which itself stuck to its official nomenclature until then.

Furthermore, on Monday, when the official social media platforms of the PSL confirmed the trade of emerging national cricketer Saad Masood from Multan Sultans to Pindiz, it referred to the latter franchise as "Rawalpindiz", further fueling the speculations regarding a change in the franchise's name.

For the unversed, the franchise has been subject to social media trolling since it unveiled a one-word name for the team last month, prompting its owner, Ahsan Tahir, to explain the "logic" behind it.

"Sir, the name of the team will be Pindiz. Just one single word. And Pindi boys are our identity, they are our mascot, they are our blood. But let me first explain the logic of the name," Tahir said during a joint press conference with PSL CEO Salman Naseer last month.

"In the world, there are around 750 T20 franchises and teams across the world, in all the countries. And there are around 40-50 major leagues, some are known, some are big, some are sanctioned, some are unsanctioned. The world is very big.

"Across everyone, everyone's name is the same in the whole world."