The Hundred franchise Sunrisers Leeds is making headlines since they have signed Pakistan spinner Abrar Ahmed in the auction ahead of the tournament. Sunrisers Leeds bought Abrar for £190,000 (around $255,000) during the first-ever men’s Hundred auction held in London. With that signing, Abrar became the first Pakistani cricketer to be picked by a team owned by an Indian company in the tournament.
Why Sunrisers Leeds facing criticism?
However, the decision quickly triggered criticism on social media, with many users targeting Kavya Maran, who co-owns the franchise. Some critics pointed to alleged comments by Abrar from last year that were seen as mocking the Indian Air Force and Indian Army around the time of Operation Sindoor.
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The Indian media group Sun TV Network completed a full takeover of the franchise last year. The team was previously known as Northern Superchargers. Sun TV bought a 49 per cent stake from the England and Wales Cricket Board and the remaining 51 per cent from Yorkshire County Cricket Club, in a deal reported to be worth around £100 million. Around the same time, stakes in three other Hundred teams were also sold to investors who own IPL franchises.
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BCCI VP Rajeev Shukla on development
Amid the controversy, Rajeev Shukla clarified on Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India cannot interfere in the matter. He explained that the deal is related to a foreign league and the decision ultimately lies with the franchise.
Speaking to ANI, Shukla said the BCCI has no authority over such signings since they are not connected to the Indian Premier League.
"It is not in our domain (IPL), they have done it for some foreign league. They will have to take a call; we cannot do anything."
Sunrisers group franchises in the tournament
The Sunrisers group also runs Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL and Sunrisers Eastern Cape in South Africa’s SA20. Until now, none of these teams had signed an active Pakistan international player. Reports say Sunrisers Leeds won a bidding battle with Trent Rockets to secure Abrar shortly before the lunch break during the auction.
The auction had already attracted attention because of speculation that franchises owned by IPL investors might avoid picking Pakistan players due to an unofficial “shadow ban”. Despite that, all eight teams had earlier stated that their selections would be based only on performance, availability and team requirements.
Abrar becomes second Pakistan player to get picked in auction
Abrar was the second Pakistani player sold during the auction. Earlier, Usman Tariq was signed by Birmingham Phoenix for £140,000 (about $187,000). Teams like Trent Rockets and Birmingham Phoenix are jointly owned by their host counties, Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club and Warwickshire County Cricket Club, along with American investment groups.
Pakistan players have featured in several global T20 leagues where teams are owned or partly owned by IPL franchises. However, no active Pakistani international has played in the IPL since 2008, mainly because of the long-standing political tensions between India and Pakistan.