SUNRISERS LEEDS, wholly owned by Indian media conglomerate Sun TV and based at Headingley, has acquired Pakistani spinner Abrar Ahmed for £190,000 ($253,000) in the men’s Hundred auction.
Sunrisers opened the bidding for the 27-year-old at £130,000 ($174,000) before raising their bid to fend off interest from Trent Rockets at the auction in London on Thursday.
The auctions, which began on Wednesday for the women’s tournament, are the first held in a major British sport.
Ahead of the auction, there was heavy scrutiny over whether the four Indian-owned teams in The Hundred would bid for Pakistan players amid reports of a potential shadow ban.
Earlier, all eight Hundred franchises had committed to selecting players solely on “performance, availability, and the needs of each team” before the auction.
After reports that IPL-linked Hundred teams would ignore players from Pakistan, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) wrote to all eight franchises to remind them of their responsibilities around anti-discrimination.
The ECB and the eight teams subsequently released a joint statement saying “players must not be excluded on the grounds of nationality”.
Sunrisers head coach Daniel Vettori revealed that he had sought advice from Australia’s players who had Abrar at the start of the year, and it was then that the Australia assistant coach decided to pursue Abrar. He also stated that the franchise did not have any internal meetings to decide whether they will pick Pakistani players in the auction or not.
“We came into the auction with every player available to us,” said Vettori. “As soon as this option was available there were a number of very good spinners from international teams that were an option, but Abrar was a priority.”
Abrar was the second Pakistan player to be sold in the men’s auction after Usman Tariq. The spinner was bought for £140,400 by Birmingham Phoenix, which has New York-based Knighthead Capital Management holding a 49% stake, while the majority 51% is with Warwickshire County Cricket Club..
The auctions are the latest stage in the revamp of The Hundred after the sales of stakes in the eight teams last year.
Collectively, the franchises are investing just over £7 million in salaries each year in the women’s competition, and more than £16m per year in the men’s tournament.
For some owners, entry into The Hundred is a further boost to their portfolio of teams in franchise leagues across the world, while all investors are looking for a return on their outlay through commercial deals, ticket sales and TV rights.
