The Pakistan Super League (PSL) completed its franchise auction on Thursday, adding two new teams to the tournament as FKS Group acquired the seventh franchise Hyderabad for PKR 1.75 billion while OZ Developers bought the eighth franchise Sialkot for a record PKR 1.85 billion.
The bidding process took place at Jinnah Convention Centre in Islamabad with ten groups initially registered to participate. Ali Tareen Group withdrew just before the auction started, leaving nine groups to compete for the two franchises.
The auction for the seventh franchise opened with a base price of PKR1.10 billion. In the end, FKS Group sealed the deal at PKR 1.75 billion and announced Hyderabad as the new team.
PCB set the base price for the eighth franchise at PKR1.70 billion. I2C Group opened with PKR 1.72 billion, prompting M-Next Group to counter with PKR 1.73 billion. I2C then took a break to reassess its strategy.
M-Next returned with a PKR 1.76 billion bid, but OZ Developers raised the stakes to PKR 1.78 billion. I2C pushed back with PKR1.80 billion, forcing OZ Developers to take their own timeout. OZ Developers came back with PKR1.81 billion, which I2C beat with PKR 1.82 billion.
In a decisive move, OZ Developers jumped to PKR1.85 billion, securing the most expensive franchise in PSL history. The eighth franchise will represent Sialkot.