ISLAMABAD: In the latest player auction of England’s The Hundred league, Kavya Maran, the owner of the IPL team Sunrisers Hyderabad, has bought Abrar Ahmed for crores of rupees. Several Pakistani players had registered for England’s domestic cricket tournament, The Hundred, but only two Pakistani players have been selected so far.
The Pakistani mystery spinner Abrar Ahmed was signed by the Indian Premier League (IPL) affiliated franchise Sunrisers Leeds for £190,000 (approximately 7.12 million Pakistani rupees).
In addition, Birmingham Phoenix purchased Pakistani spinner Usman Tariq for £140,000 (approximately 5.32 million Pakistani rupees). Before the auction, there were speculations that no Indian-linked group would buy any Pakistani player for the English tournament. However, Sunrisers Leeds has proved that wrong, and they have made a stir on social media.
Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL and Sunrisers Leeds in The Hundred League have faced criticism. Indian social media users have been criticizing Kavya Maran for buying a Pakistani player, Abrar Ahmed, for the team.
Shaheen Afridi among five cricketers withdraw from ‘The Hundred auction’
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s ODI captain Shaheen Shah Afridi is one of five overseas players to have withdrawn from the Hundred auction at late notice, dealing a blow to the competition just hours before the bidding is due to get underway on Thursday.
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) confirmed on Wednesday evening that the Pakistan fast bowler had pulled out of contention alongside Quinton de Kock, Sunil Narine, AM Ghazanfar and Peter Siddle.
The board declined to provide individual reasons for the withdrawals, though scheduling clashes with the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) and bilateral international commitments are believed to have been a factor.
Afridi, who previously represented Welsh Fire in 2023, was due to feature in the ‘Tier 1 Fast Bowlers’ category at Thursday’s auction. The left-armer took six wickets during his previous stint in the competition and was scheduled to return last year before withdrawing at the last minute.
It follows recent scrutiny over the participation of Pakistani cricketers in the tournament, with the ECB and the eight franchises issuing a joint statement reaffirming that all selections would be based on “performance, availability, and the needs of each team.”
The clarification came amid reports of a potential reluctance from franchises with Indian ownership links to pick Pakistani players. De Kock and Narine have also previously featured in the Hundred, representing Southern Brave and Oval Invincibles respectively.
Their absence, along with that of Ghazanfar and the veteran Australian seamer Siddle, is likely to force last-minute adjustments to franchise plans ahead of Thursday’s bidding.
