{"id":472173,"date":"2026-03-12T21:18:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T21:18:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/472173\/"},"modified":"2026-03-12T21:18:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T21:18:09","slug":"pakistans-abrar-signed-by-india-owned-sunrisers-in-hundred-auction-cricket-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/472173\/","title":{"rendered":"Pakistan\u2019s Abrar signed by India-owned Sunrisers in Hundred auction | Cricket News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"article__subhead\">Pakistani spinner Abrar Ahmed has been signed by Indian-owned Sunrisers Leeds in English cricket\u2019s Hundred auction.<\/p>\n<p>Listen to this article\u00a0|\u00a02 mins<\/p>\n<p>info<\/p>\n<p>Published On 12 Mar 202612 Mar 2026<\/p>\n<p>Click here to share on social media<\/p>\n<p>share2<\/p>\n<p class=\"rich-share__social-text\">Share<\/p>\n<p>plus2googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo<\/p>\n<p>Leg-spinner Abrar Ahmed \u200cwas bought by Sunrisers Leeds for 190,000 pounds ($254,000) in \u2060the men\u2019s \u2060auction for the Hundred, despite concerns that Indian-owned teams might avoid signing cricketers from Pakistan.<\/p>\n<p>In \u2060February, media reports suggested that Manchester Super Giants, MI London, Southern Brave and Sunrisers Leeds <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/sports\/2026\/2\/25\/pakistani-players-in-the-hundred-whats-the-cricket-controversy-all-about\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">would not consider signing Pakistani \u2060players<\/a> for the United Kingdom-based competition amid tensions between neighbours India and Pakistan.<\/p>\n<p>Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list<\/p>\n<p>Following the report, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and all eight franchises stressed that players <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ecb.co.uk\/about\/media?_gl=1*3u9q8i*_up*MQ..*_ga*ODQzMzI0MjkzLjE3NzIwMjUzMzg.*_ga_RB2BVD5EKH*czE3NzIwMjUzMzckbzEkZzAkdDE3NzIwMjUzMzckajYwJGwwJGgw*_ga_E3D3L0MGDX*czE3NzIwMjUzMzckbzEkZzAkdDE3NzIwMjUzMzckajYwJGwwJGgw#\/pressreleases\/joint-statement-by-ecb-and-the-hundred-teams-ensuring-the-hundred-is-inclusive-welcoming-and-open-to-all-3434258\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">must not be excluded<\/a> from \u200cselection based on nationality.<\/p>\n<p>Abrar has played 38 Twenty20s for Pakistan since making his debut in 2024, taking 52 wickets with an economy rate of 6.67.<\/p>\n<p>Sunrisers opened the bidding for the 27-year-old at 130,000 pounds ($174,000) before raising their bid to fend off interest from Trent Rockets at the auction in London on Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>Trent Rockets, who are not \u2060Indian-owned, also attempted to sign Abrar\u2019s compatriot \u2060Usman Tariq, who ultimately joined Birmingham Phoenix for 140,000 pounds ($187,000).<\/p>\n<p>Fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi withdrew from the men\u2019s sale, while Pakistan\u2019s Shadab Khan and Haris Rauf went unsold \u2013 the latter failed to attract an offer when put up for his reserve price of 100,000 pounds ($134,000).<\/p>\n<p>Pakistani players have been effectively barred from the \u2060Indian Premier League (IPL) since 2009.<\/p>\n<p>James Coles, a 21-year-old all-rounder who plays for Sussex, fetched the \u2060highest price in the first half of \u2060the auction as he was bought by London Spirit for 390,000 pounds ($521,000), while Welsh Fire picked up former England captain Joe Root and Jordan Cox.<\/p>\n<p>The Hundred, \u200cthe only cricket league in the world that uses a 100-ball format, will be held from July 21 to August 16.<\/p>\n<p>It \u200cwas \u200copened to private investment last year, with four franchises acquired by IPL owners.<\/p>\n<p>The only two Pakistan players in Wednesday\u2019s women\u2019s auction, Fatima Sana and Sadia Iqbal, went unsold.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pakistani spinner Abrar Ahmed has been signed by Indian-owned Sunrisers Leeds in English cricket\u2019s Hundred auction. Listen to&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":472174,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[1487,1721,591,308,50,2321,217,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-472173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cricket","tag-asia","tag-cricket","tag-europe","tag-india","tag-news","tag-pakistan","tag-sport","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=472173"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472173\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/472174"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=472173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=472173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=472173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}