Sunrisers faced backlash on social media after signing Pakistan’s Abrar Ahmed for The Hundred, becoming the first Pakistani player signed by an Indian-owned team in the competition. The move drew criticism from Indian fans, with the team’s official X account later suspended. NEW DELHI: The Sunrisers franchise faced strong backlash on social media after signing Pakistan mystery spinner Abrar Ahmed in the inaugural men’s auction of The Hundred 2026 players on Thursday. Abrar became the first Pakistani player to be signed by an Indian team in The Hundred, with Sunrisers paying US$255,000.The move did not sit well with many fans in India who criticized the Sunrisers and team owner Kavya Maran for signing the Pakistani player, saying it was against national sentiment.
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At the auction, Kavya Maran was seen at a table alongside head coach Daniel Vettori. Prior to reports of a possible shadow ban, there had been extensive scrutiny beforehand as to whether Indian-owned teams would field Pakistani players.Shortly after acquiring Abrar, the official Sunrisers Leeds account on X was suspended. The platform didn’t give a specific reason, but users were shown an “Account Suspended” message when they visited the page, noting that “X suspends accounts that violate X’s rules.”Last year, Indian media company Sun TV fully took over the Leeds franchise in The Hundred, formerly called the Northern Superchargers, buying 49% from ECB and 51% from Yorkshire.Sunrisers’ other teams, Sunrisers Hyderabad (IPL) and Sunrisers Eastern Cape (SA20), have never signed an active Pakistani player before. In the auction, Sunrisers won a bidding war against Trent Rockets to sign Abrar Ahmed.
For full list of matches, venues and timings, see IPL 2026 Full Schedule, Schedules and Team Match Dates here.
