Pakistani batter Sahibzada Farhan ignored all the queries related to the speculation that players of his country would be ignored by at least four Indian-owned franchises in the ‘The Hundred’ auction, saying that the matter is beyond their control.
The Hundred, a format that has 100 balls in an innings, has four teams owned by Indian companies – Manchester Super Giants (RPSG Group), MI London (Reliance), Southern Brave (GMR) and Sunrisers Leeds (Sun Group) and according to the reports in the British media, all of them would avoid Pakistani players.
“See, it’s not in our hands to decide who will pick us or not. That is not in our hands. Wherever we get a chance, who are interested can pick us and we are ready to play in that league,” Farhan said ahead of his team’s T20 World Cup Super Eight match against England here on Tuesday. “And we are not interested to play with the people – the way you have spoken,” said Farhan when asked about Pakistan players not being picked in franchise leagues around the world with strong IPL ties.
No Pakistani player has featured in the Indian Premier League (IPL) after the inaugural season in 2008, or in the three seasons of the SA20 – where all six teams are owned by IPL franchise groups. The same applies to the ILT20 league in the United Arab Emirates.
ECB chief executive Richard Gould had said last year that he expected “players from all nations to be selected for all teams” in The Hundred and warned that “clear anti-discrimination policies” were in place.
Mohammad Amir and Imad Wasim were the Pakistani players to feature in last year’s edition while Shaheen Afridi, Shadab Khan and Haris Rauf were among those who played in earlier competitions.
As many as 67 male and female cricketers from Pakistan, including almost the entire men’s T20 World Cup squad, have registered for The Hundred.
England captain Harry Brook had earlier said that it would be a shame if Pakistan cricketers did not take part in the competition. “There’s some amazing cricketers and, yeah, and they bring some great crowds as well. So it would be a shame to not see some of the Pakistan players in there and make the tournament and competition even better,” Brook had said last week.
The upcoming season of The Hundred is scheduled from July 21 to August 16, while the players auction is slated for Match
