After much speculation about the stance of The Hundred teams owned by IPL franchises about bidding for Pakistani players in the auction, Sunrisers Leeds not only bid for leg-spinner Abrar Ahmed but also acquired his services for 190,000 pounds (approximately Rs 2.3 crore).
There had been reports earlier that the teams bought by IPL franchise owners would not be bidding for Pakistani players, and developments in the early part of Thursday’s auction seemed to follow the script. Mystery spinner Usman Tariq, known for the angular approach and the long pause before delivery, was the only player from his country to find any takers. Birmingham Phoenix got him for 140,000 pounds after a brief tussle with Trent Rockets. Neither of these franchises has any IPL-owner involvement.
Other Pakistani players whose names came up for bidding – Saim Ayub, Haris Rauf and Shadab Khan – found no takers.
But that changed when Abrar’s name came up. He entered the auction at a base price of 75,000 pounds and Sunrisers Leeds co-owner and CEO Kavya Maran promptly raised the paddle. They were challenged by Trent Rockets as the bidding soon crossed the 100,000 pound mark. As the contest touched the 150k threshold, there was some discussion between Kavya and head coach Daniel Vettori, before they decided to go further. Trent Rockets eventually opted out and Abrar became a Sunrisers Leeds player for 190k.
The team is led by Harry Brook and also has players such as Brydon Carse, Mitchell Marsh and Nathan Ellis. Sunrisers Leeds also scooped up South Africa’s Ryan Rickelton, England’s Zak Crawley, Matt Potts and Dan Lawrence in the early going.
There has been no Pakistani player in the IPL since 2009 and IPL team owners who have bought franchises in domestic leagues around the world generally don’t go for cricketers from that country.
However, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and the eight franchises in The Hundred had released a statement last month saying that the selection would be based entirely on ‘cricketing performance, availability, and the needs of each team’.
There were 13 Pakistani players in the auction and nine cricketers from that country have featured in it over the first five seasons.
However, no Pakistan player found takers in the auction for the women’s competition of The Hundred on Wednesday. In fact, no Pakistani woman player has ever been a part of the event.
The 2026 edition of the tournament will be held from July 21 to August 16, and will feature 34 men’s and as many women’s matches.
