Pakistan’s Abrar Ahmed celebrates during the T20 World Cup. (AP) NEW DELHI: In the rare event of a Pakistani cricketer opting for an Indian Premier League (IPL)-backed franchise, Abrar Ahmed’s signature in The Hundred auction could leave the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in a delicate spot, with the spinner’s availability potentially clashing with Pakistan’s bilateral tour commitments.Abrar was bought by Sunrisers Leeds, a franchise controlled by the owners of Sunrisers Hyderabad, for £190,000 (around PKR 7 million) after a bidding war with Trent Rockets, making them the first Indian-owned franchise to sign a Pakistani player since 2009. No active Pakistani player or franchise player had previously played for SA2 and IPL with Sunrise.
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However, the mystery spinner may not receive a No Objection Certificate (NOC) as Pakistan’s national cricket team is scheduled to tour the West Indies for a two-match Test series during The Hundred window.Pakistan is scheduled to play a two-match Test series against the West Indies. The tour is scheduled from July 15 to August 7 and includes two Tests and a four-day friendly. The Hundred, meanwhile, will run for four weeks, starting on July 21 and ending on August 16.Ahead of the auction, there was considerable scrutiny over whether the IPL-affiliated franchises would bid for Pakistani players, despite all eight teams previously pledging to make pre-auction selections based only on the “performance, availability and needs of each team”. The ECB and the franchises later issued a joint statement stressing that players cannot be excluded based on nationality in The Hundred. However, TimesofIndia.com has learned that the 27-year-old may not receive a NOC from the PCB.“He might not play The Hundred, given that Pakistan are playing a two-match Test series against West Indies,” a source following the development told this website.
Sunrisers Leeds signed Pakistani Abrar Ahmed during The Hundred auction.
Abrar is not Pakistan’s leading rider in tests, with Noman Ali and Sajid Khan in the team. However, he will still need a green signal from PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi.The amount Abrar would earn from The Hundred would easily put him among the top eight highest earners in the Pakistan Super League (PSL).“It is a lot of money. His agent has put his name in the auction, which means he is confident of getting the NOC. He is also one of the few current Pakistani cricketers who has a good relationship with the PCB boss. There is a 50-50 chance of him playing in the Hundred,” a PCB source said.Sunrisers Hyderabad head coach Daniel Vettori explained the reason behind the franchise’s offer for the 27-year-old.“Once we dropped Adil Rashid, who was a priority early on, we obviously jumped into the overseas spinner category,” Vettori said after the auction. “We were looking at four or five players and Abrar was one of them. We are very happy to get him.
Abrar Ahmed may not play The Hundred as Pakistan play two-match Test series against West Indies
Source TOI
Vettori also stressed that apart from Abrar, another Pakistani mystery man, Usman Tariq, was also on their radar.“We planned for everyone who was in the auction. After missing out on Adil Rashid, the priority was to get a spin bowler and we didn’t think the quality was available in the local market, so we had to go overseas. Rishad Hossain, Usman Tariq and Abrar Ahmed were all players on our radar.”“He’s a bit of a mystery. I don’t think many England players have come across him and he played recently in that Australian series. The feedback from the Australian players was that he would be difficult to face, with a lot of variation and the ability to hit in the overs and also through the middle overs, which is a key requirement at Headingley. The spinners were the ones who really succeeded there. Having him will make a big difference to us.”Apart from Abrar, Usman Tariq was another Pakistani cricketer who was acquired during The Hundred auction, bought by Birmingham Phoenix for £140,000 (about PKR 5.21 million). Phoenix does not have an IPL connection. Pakistan pacer Haris Rauf, opener Saim Ayub and all-rounder Shadab Khan remained unsold. Veteran left-arm seamer Shaheen Shah Afridi had earlier withdrawn from the auction. Also remaining unsold were the only two Pakistani players in Wednesday’s women’s hundreds auction, Fatima Sana and Sadia Iqbal.
