ISLAMABAD: Political and commercial ties between India and cricket franchises are creating concerns for Pakistani cricketers in England’s domestic tournament, The Hundred Teams, partially owned by India
According to the BBC, an English cricket board official informed a player agent that teams with Indian ownership could deliberately avoid picking Pakistani players. Four of the eight teams in The Hundred including Manchester Super Giants, MI London, Sunrisers Leeds, and Southern Brave have 49% IPL-linked Indian ownership.
A player agent described the situation as an “unofficial rule”: Pakistani players risk being sidelined in teams backed by Indian investors. Similar trends were previously observed in South Africa’s SA T20 and the UAE’s ILT20 tournaments.
The player draft for this year’s The Hundred is scheduled for March 11–12, with Pakistani cricketers like Haris Rauf expected to participate, though their selection may be limited by Indian influence in team ownership.
A 65-year-old umpire dies after bee attack during cricket match
Meanwhile, a 65-year-old senior umpire died after being attacked by bees during a cricket match.
A local cricket league (KDMA League) match was being played at the Spro ground in Shuklaganj area of Unnao when suddenly a large swarm of bees attacked the ground. As a result of this attack, 65-year-old umpire Manik Gupta was seriously injured and later died in the hospital.
Beside this 15 to 20 players and another umpire Jagdish Sharma were also injured in the incident due to bee stings
During the match, a swarm of bees suddenly appeared, causing chaos on the ground. Players and spectators ran towards safe places to save their lives.
According to eyewitnesses, Manik Gupta tried to run away but he fell to the ground and bees stuck to his face and body.
He was immediately taken to a nearby private hospital, but when his condition deteriorated, he was shifted to a major hospital in Kanpur (LLR Hospital), where doctors confirmed his death. It is said that he was part of the umpiring panel of the Kanpur Cricket Association for the last 30 years.
The local cricket community and the Kanpur Cricket Association have expressed deep sorrow and regret over the incident and termed it a rare but extremely tragic accident.
