So the first ever hundred of the auction was expected to capture the imagination of fans. All eight teams were set to battle it out for some of the big names in English cricket and there were a few international stars in the mix too. The tournament, which began in 2021, has received a major makeover with franchises associated with the IPL coming to the fore and making significant investments.
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Then came the news that Pakistani players would be shadow-banned by four IPL-affiliated parties during the auction, with others expected to follow suit. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) entered as Michael Vaughan and Harry Brook expressed his concerns about insulting Pakistani players. They said players should be bought on merit and not nationality.
Everyone thought the storm had passed and the women’s auction went by without a single Pakistani player picking up. Then it was time for the men’s auction on March 12 and Haris Rauf found out that he had not been selected. Usman Tariq found a home at Birmingham Phoenix but the team had no connection with the IPL side. Once again, everyone seemed happy and the Hundred auction just moved on.
Then the name Abrar Ahmed cameand up went the paddle from Sunrisers Leeds. The Trent Rockets joined and a bidding war was on. While fans in Pakistan were happy, those in India were furious. The battle started at his base price of £75,000 and went up to £190,000. He was finally going to don the orange Sunrisers jersey.
Then came the backlash.
There have been calls to boycott the Sunrisers group, which owns SRH in the IPL. Hashtags like #ShameOnSRH and #BoycottSunrisers started popping up at X. The Sunrisers have since offered an explanation.
So why the fuss? For those who don’t know, there has been a shadow ban for Pakistani players in the IPL since 2009 due to the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. From then until now, Azhar Mahmood has been the only player to participate in the league but under a British passport. So technically he was not considered a Pakistani player.
While all this noise goes on, something people may have forgotten – or may not know – is the fact that there were teams associated with the IPL that continued to use Pakistani players in their squads as far back as 2025.
So, how many players have played for sides with IPL owners despite the ban?
PAKISTAN PLAYERS AND IPL CONNECTIONS
If you look at leagues around the world, especially those with an IPL affiliation, most teams with Indian owners tend to stay away from the Pakistani contingent.
Bolstered massively by its IPL affiliation, SA20 also has no Pakistani players in the mix.
If you look at the ILT20, the likes of Abu Dhabi Knight Riders, Sharjah Warriorz, Gulf Giants, MI Emirates and Dubai Capitals currently have no Pakistani players in their mix. The Desert Vipers are the only ones that have a strong Pakistani contingent. However, there was one season when Abu Dhabi Knight Riders used Imad Wasim in 2024 and he paid off by picking up 11 wickets and scoring 56 runs in 10 matches.
When it comes to the Caribbean Premier League, the story is completely different. Shadab Khan made his CPL debut with TKR (Courtesy: Getty)
The league started in 2013 and has had three IPL-affiliated teams in the mix since then. They have used Pakistani talent at various points to build their side. Trinbago Knight Riders, KKR’s sister team, is one team that has used Pakistani players the most in the CPL.
They were initially known as Trinidad and Tobago Red Steel and KKR acquired a majority stake in them in 2015. In 2016, the team was renamed TKR and since then they have been approached by some big name Pakistani players.
In 2016, Umar Akmal represented them in 12 matches and scored 179 runs. The following year, young Shadab Khan was drafted by TKR where he played eight matches, scoring 46 runs and taking 12 wickets.
In the same season, Yasir Shah served as an injury replacement for Shadab before returning again in 2021. In 2019, young Mohammad Hasnain bowed out for TKR, playing four matches and picking up six wickets. Tariq was the star with the ball for TKR in CPL 2025 (Courtesy: Getty)
In 2025, they probably contributed the most to the title in the form of Mohammad Amir and Usman Tariq. Amir picked up 11 wickets from seven matches while Tariq claimed 20 scalps from 10 matches as TKR chased down the title.
And it wasn’t just TKR who used the services of Pakistani players. Barbados Royals, Rajasthan Royals’ sister team, had Azam Khan’s jersey in 2021 and 2022. During these two seasons, Khan scored 435 runs with four fifties.
They also had the current captain of the Pakistan women’s team, Fatima Sana, as part of their women’s squad for the 2022 season, where she took three wickets in two games. Sana played two matches for the Barbados Tridents (Courtesy: Getty)
WHY THE WAY AND WHAT CAN BCCI DO?
So why are Sunrisers facing the brunt of Abrar’s selection at the moment?
Well, for starters, Sunrisers Leeds is a team where the Sun Group has full ownership. They acquired the former Northern Superchargers in a major move in February 2025.
They took a 49 percent stake from the ECB and the remaining stake from Yorkshire, the county where the team is based. So many fans expected the owners to move away from placing the paddle for the Pakistani players.
However, they had a clear reason for going after Abrar because they wanted a spinner like him after losing Adil Rashid.
“Once we missed Adil Rashid (to the Southern Brave), who was a priority early on, then of course we jumped into the overseas rotation. There were four or five guys we were looking at and Abrar was one of them,” head coach Daniel Vettori said after the auction.
“I’m very happy to have acquired him,” added Vettori.
Now that the deal is done, can BCCI make any changes to it? Well, no.
As the league is not established within the confines of the IPL, the BCCI has no authority over the decision. Vice President Rajeev Shukla made it clear that what the owners of the IPL teams do in franchise leagues outside India is not under their jurisdiction and that the decision rests entirely with the owners.
“Our domain is limited to IPL. We have nothing to do with what they do in the league outside it. How can we interfere with them signing a player in a foreign league. That is up to them. It is purely on the franchise that has bought a team outside India. If they take any player from outside India in this league, we have the least concern because there is no such player in IPL for Shukla,” he told ANI.
While the backlash is expected to continue for some time, the move appears to have been made purely on sporting merit. In terms of T20 cricket, Abrar has taken 109 wickets from 84 matches at an average of 20.47.
In the meantime, Sunrisers Leeds will be working to get their X account back online and reconnect with their fans. They have built a strong squad to win The Hundred at the first attempt and will be hoping Abrar plays a key role in that endeavour.
– The end
Published on:
14 Mar 2026 08:50 IST
