&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "SRH-owned SunRisers Leeds sign Pakistan’s Abrar Ahmed for £190k in historic Hundred Auction move")
Amid a standoff between two countries and reports of The Hundred teams with Indian owners and links to the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL) avoiding picking Pakistani players in the auction, SunRisers Leeds – a Hundred team with Indian ownership- snapped Pakistan ace leg-spinner Abrar Ahmed for £190,000 on Thursday. The ECB last month issued a statement saying all eight city-based The Hundred teams were committed to selection based solely on performances, dismissing geopolitical differences between the arch-rivals.
Tense political relations have restricted India-Pakistan matches to ACC and ICC events, with the BCCI also blocking Pakistani cricketers' participation in the IPL since 2009.
Also read | 'I haven't heard...': Hundred coaches on IPL-linked franchises buying Pak players in men's auction
While the only two Pakistan players in Wednesday's women's auction, Fatima Sana and Sadia Iqbal, went unsold, fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi withdrew from the men's sale and fellow seamer Haris Rauf failed to attract an offer when put up for his reserve price of £100,000 ($134,000) at the auction in London on Thursday.
However, the SunRisers Leeds team bought 27-year-old Ahmed, while Birmingham Phoenix bagged fellow Pakistan spinner Usman Tariq for £140,000.
The SunRisers are owned in full by the group behind IPL outfit SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH).
On the other hand, London Spirit paid £390,000 for uncapped English all-rounder James Cole, while Welsh Fire spent a combined £540,000 on batsman Jordan Cox and former England captain Joe Root.
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Meanwhile, The Hundred is staging the first auction of its kind in a major British sport after previously using a draft system to select players. Stakes in the eight franchises were sold last year to private investors, raising huge sums for cricket in England and Wales.
Four of the franchises -- MI London, Manchester Super Giants, SunRisers Leeds and Southern Brave -- are at least part-owned by companies that control IPL teams.
The 2026 edition of the Hundred, featuring men's and women's competitions, starts on July 21 and runs for four weeks.
(With inputs from AFP)
