BCCI came up with their first reaction on the ongoing controversy over the Sunrisers franchise, bringing in Pakistan spinner Abrar Ahmed for the upcoming edition of the Hundred. The franchise owned by Sun TV has faced heavy criticism left, right and centre on social media for acquiring Abrar in the players' auction, despite national sentiment and the mood in the country.
BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla said that the board cannot do anything about the signing of Pakistan's spinner Abrar. Kavya Maran, the owner of the franchise, is also facing severe backlash and even the official X (formerly Twitter) handle of Sunrisers Leeds has been suspended. Amid all the backlash, Shukla made it clear that it is the franchise that needs to take a call, and the BCCI cannot do anything, as overseas leagues do not fall under its jurisdiction.
"This is not at all concerned with the IPL. It's an overseas league. This is not in our domain. We cannot do anything. They have to take a call," Shukla said.
Notably, Abrar was picked up by the franchise for 190,000 pounds (roughly USD 255,000). At the auction, head coach Daniel Vettori and owner Kavya Maran were spotted, and the duo placed the winning bid, overcoming the Trent Rockets' challenge. Explaining the decision to sign Abrar, Vettori revealed that the franchise went after the mystery spinner once Adil Rashid went to another team.
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It is to be noted that a total of four teams in the Hundred competition have investment from Indian owners, and it came into effect in October 2025. Ever since the takeover, there have been reports claiming that there would be a shadow ban on Pakistani players and no team involving Indians would pick up Pakistani players. However, Sunrisers put all these rumours to rest by buying Abrar. Only two Pakistan players were sold in the men's Hundred auction - Abrar and Usman Tariq.
An interesting controversy unfolded a few weeks back when the Kolkata Knight Riders were criticised on social media for picking Mustafizur Rahman, the Bangladesh pacer, in the squad. The backlash intensified after the killings of several Hindus in Bangladesh. The situation eventually settled after the BCCI stepped in and instructed the KKR to release the pacer from the squad.
Responding to BCCI's decision, Bangladesh refused to travel to India for the T20 World Cup 2026, and the team was eventually replaced by Scotland in the 20-team tournament, which the Men in Blue won.