• Source:JND

Sunrisers Leeds got involved in a major controversy after they roped in Pakistan's star spinner Abrar Ahmed during the Hundred 2026 auction. Abrar became the first Pakistani player to be signed by an Indian-owned franchise in the competition. The mystery spinner from Pakistan sparked a bidding war between Sunrisers and Trent Rockets before he was bought for 190,000 pounds (approximately Rs 2.34 crore).

The signing led to massive criticism for the franchise as Indian fans called them out for the move. Notably, Pakistan players are banned from the IPL, and fans expected the Indian-owned teams to continue the ban in other T20 leagues as well. Meanwhile, there were reports that the Indian-owned teams might not bid for Pakistan players amid the political tensions between the neighbouring countries, but the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) clarified that there is no place for discrimination in the Hundred.

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Apart from Abrar, Usman Tariq was the other Pakistani to get a contract in the Hundred after he was roped in by Birmingham Phoenix. Amid the massive criticism in India, Sunrisers coach Daniel Vettori opened up on Abrar Ahmed's selection, revealing that the team missed out on Adil Rashid, and they wanted a leg spinner in the squad.

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"Once we missed out on Adil Rashid [to Southern Brave], who was a priority early on, then we obviously jumped into the overseas spinner. There were four or five guys that we were looking at, and Abrar was one of them. Very pleased to get him," Vettori said after the conclusion of the auction on Thursday.

Earlier, Pakistan Pacer Harris Rauf, off-spin all-rounder Saim Ayub and spinner Shadab Khan went unsold in the auction. On the other hand, senior Pakistani pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi had earlier withdrawn himself from the auction.

In an interesting turn of events, Sunrisers Leeds' X (formerly Twitter) account was suspended on Thursday, just hours after the franchise bought Pakistan cricket team spinner, Abrar. While X (formerly Twitter) has not provided any explanation for the suspension, users attempting to access the account were shown a message that stated, "Account suspended. X suspends accounts that violate the X rules."

Apart from expressing their displeasure, fans also reminded SRH co-owner Kavya Maran of Ahmed's anti-India posts in the past, which he shared amid the political tensions between the two countries after the Pahalgam Terror Attack and Operation Sindoor.

 

 

 


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