London: Sunrisers Leeds bought Pakistan leg-spinner Abrar Ahmed for 190,000 pounds (Rs 2.3 crore) on Thursday in the inaugural men’s Hundred auction, making him the first Pakistani international signed by an Indian-owned franchise in the tournament.
The purchase for Abrar, who came with a base price of 75,000 pounds, came after Sunrisers Leeds, owned by Indian media group Sun TV, prevailed in a bidding contest with Trent Rockets at the auction shortly before the lunch break happened.
Sun TV completed its acquisition of the franchise previously known as Northern Superchargers by buying a 49 percent stake from the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and the remaining 51 percent from Yorkshire for about 100 million pounds.
The conglomerate also runs Sunrisers Hyderabad (IPL) and Sunrisers Eastern Cape (SA20) teams. Earlier reports suggested IPL franchise-owned teams would avoid bidding for Pakistan players, and the early stages of Thursday’s auction appeared to support that expectation till Abrar was picked.
No Pakistan player has featured in the Indian Premier League (IPL) since 2009, and IPL franchise owners who have invested in franchise T20 leagues worldwide have generally avoided signing cricketers from the country.
The ECB said last month that selections in the auction would be based solely on ‘cricketing performance, availability, and the needs of each team.’ Nine Pakistan players have appeared across the competition’s first five seasons, though none of the female cricketers from the country were picked in the women’s auction on Wednesday.
Abrar was the second Pakistan player sold in the auction on Thursday morning after mystery spinner Usman Tariq was bought by Birmingham Phoenix for 140,000 pounds. Several other Pakistan players like Saim Ayub, Haris Rauf and Shadab Khan, went unsold.
Sunrisers Leeds, captained by Harry Brook and coached by Daniel Vettori, also picked up South Africa’s Ryan Rickelton, England’s Zak Crawley, Matt Potts and Dan Lawrence in the early stages of the auction. The squad already includes Brydon Carse, Mitchell Marsh and Nathan Ellis. The 2026 Hundred will run from July 21 to August 16 and will feature 34 men’s and 34 women’s matches.
(IANS)
