ISLAMABAD (AP) — A real estate consortium and a U.S.-based aviation and healthcare conglomerate won the bids for two new Twenty20 franchises in the Pakistan Super League for $12.75 million on Thursday.

OZ Developers named Sialkot as its new franchise which it won at auction for rupees 1.85 billion ($6.55 million).

FKS Group from the United States chose the name of Hyderabad after securing the bid for rupees 1.75 billion ($6.2 million).

The new teams will expand the PSL to eight teams when the season begins from March 26.

Multan Sultans will be run by the Pakistan Cricket Board this year before they go up for sale after the PSL ends in April. Multan’s former owner Ali Tareen, who developed differences with the PSL management, was eligible to bid for the two new teams but pulled out at the last minute from a pool of 10 approved bidders at Thursday’s auction.

“If I come back to PSL, it has to be for the same reason,” Tareen wrote on X before the auction. “South Punjab is where my heart is. It is home. When the Multan team is being sold, we’ll be ready. Wishing all the bidders the best.”

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AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket