Karachi, 10 April 2023 (GNP): Najam Sethi, the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) executive committee, disclosed that there is a great deal of interest from prospective buyers to acquire two new teams in the Pakistan Super League (PSL).
Sethi said in an interview with a YouTube channel that while he had first considered the idea, he hadn’t brought it up to anyone until Peshawar Zalmi owner Javed Afridi “fired the first shot” by speculating that Faisalabad and Sialkot might be the two new teams in the league.
“I didn’t talk about it with anyone at first but I don’t know how it gets reported in the media. Sialkot and Faisalabad will be the two new PSL teams, I believe Javed Afridi has fired the first shot. Although we haven’t spoken to the franchises or made any decisions, I’d like to see at least two additional clubs added”, Sethi said.
Sethi acknowledged the legitimate worries voiced by the current franchises about potential income loss and the impact on market saturation, though.
“Franchises have a lot of understandings and worries about their income and whether or not the market can support them. We need to talk about it because without them, we can’t move forward”, he added.
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“They must participate in the consultation procedure. But what I will say is that if these two teams are brought to the PSL, it will be a win-win situation for everyone because so many people are interested in buying them”, he further added.
The 74-year-old gave the current franchises assurances that they would not lose money as a result of this choice but rather profit from it.
“Both the revenue and the number of teams would rise. My suggestion to the other six franchises is that you will not suffer any loss, but you will make a profit from this, and if the revenue reduces, then we will support you in this matter,” he said.
The PCB chief also stated that a discussion inside the PCB will be held to examine the viability of using an auction approach to choose teams for the PSL. An auction model would give each team a set amount of money to bid on players, with the player’s services going to the team with the highest price.
The introduction of the auction model in PSL will be the subject of an internal discussion, he added.
