Sunrisers Leeds head coach Daniel Vettori has defended the franchise’s decision to sign Pakistani spinner Abrar Ahmed, saying the team was “very pleased” to land him after missing out on their primary spin target at the auction. Vettori, who is also the head coach of Indian Premier League franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad, explained that the move became necessary after their original plan to sign another spinner in the auction fell through.
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Sunrisers Leeds initially targeted England spinner Adil Rashid. However, once Rashida was acquired by Southern Brave, the franchise had to quickly change its strategy and look for an overseas spinner, with Abrar emerging as one of the shortlisted options.
“Once we missed Adil Rashid (to Southern Brave), who was a priority early on, then of course we jumped into the overseas spinner. There were four or five guys we were looking at and Abrar was one of them,” Vettori said after the auction.
“I’m very happy to have acquired him,” added Vettori.
The franchise, owned by Sun Group headed by Kalanithi Maran, eventually bagged Abrar for Rs 2.34 crore. Kavya Maran was present alongside Vettori at the auction table in London as Sunrisers Leeds outbid Trent Rockets to sign the Pakistan spinner.
The team will be led by England T20I captain Harry Brook in the upcoming season.
WHY FANS WANT TO BOYCOTT SRH?
Abrar Ahmed’s signing quickly sparked online debate, especially among Indian fans. The controversy largely stems from the fact that the Sunrisers group also owns Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League.
For several years, IPL ownership franchises rarely signed Pakistani cricketers in overseas leagues. Due to this pattern, Abrar’s selection attracted considerable attention and some fans called for a boycott of Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Interestingly, none of the other India-linked franchises participating in the competition signed a Pakistani player during the auction.
Earlier speculation suggested that there could be an informal restriction on Pakistani cricketers entering teams associated with the IPL owners. The four Indian sides in the competition – Sunrisers Leeds, MI London, Manchester Super Giants and Southern Brave – were widely expected to avoid picking players from Pakistan.
However, all eight franchises later clarified that selection would be based purely on cricketing merit and team requirements rather than nationality.
Similar trends have previously been seen in competitions such as the SA20 and ILT20, where franchises associated with IPL owners usually did not sign Pakistani players.
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Issued by:
Debodinna Chakraborty
Published on:
March 13, 2026 1:30 PM IST
