Kavya Maran, co-owner and head of SunRisers Leeds (Photo by Pankaj Nangia/Getty Images)

NEW DELHI: Pakistan spinner Abrar Ahmed was bought by SunRisers Leeds for £190,000 at the Hundred Player Auction 2026 on Thursday, putting an end to speculation that teams linked to the Indian Premier League (IPL) might avoid signing Pakistani players. The franchise, co-owned by Kavya Maran, competed strongly in the bidding and beat Trent Rockets to secure the mystery spinner.Earlier in the auction, Usman Tariq became the first Pakistani player to be picked when Birmingham Phoenix signed him for £140,000.

However, several other Pakistan stars did not find buyers. Fast bowler Haris Rauf and all-rounders Shadab Khan and Saim Ayub remained unsold at the time of writing.Meanwhile, Pakistan ODI captain Shaheen Shah Afridi had already withdrawn from the auction before bidding began. The ECB confirmed that Quinton de Kock, Sunil Narine, AM Ghazanfar, and Peter Siddle also pulled out. The likely reason was scheduling clashes with the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) and other international commitments.Afridi’s withdrawal still left 13 Pakistani players available in the men’s auction pool. The situation had drawn attention after speculation that franchises with IPL links might avoid picking Pakistani players.Responding to the debate, the ECB and the eight franchises issued a joint clarification, saying selections would be based on “performance, availability, and the needs of each team.”Pakistan also had a disappointing outcome in the women’s auction held a day earlier. None of the Pakistani women players were selected. Muneeba Ali, Diana Baig, Sadia Iqbal, and captain Fatima Sana had all entered the auction with a base price of £15,000, but they did not receive any bids.

Sam Billings of Oval Invincibles lifts The Hundred 2025 trophy (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

MUMBAI: More than 50 Pakistan players (men and women) have registered for The Hundred auction, which will be held at Piccadilly Lights in London on March 11 (women’s competition) and March 12 (men’s competition). “The auction list includes more than 50 players from Pakistan,” a source tracking developments told TOI.

As per the ICC Future Tours Programme (FTP), Pakistan are scheduled to have an away Test series against West Indies in August. A full list of players registered for The Hundred auction will be released at 1 PM UK time (6.30 PM India time) on Friday.Last season, only two Pakistan players, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Wasim, featured in the tournament (for Northern Superchargers), while Pakistan-born Zafar Gohar was part of the Oval Invincibles squad.Six of the eight franchises, London Spirit (owned by US-based tech investors), MI Oval (Reliance Industries), Manchester SuperGiants (RPSG Group), Southern Brave (GMR Group), Sunrisers Leeds (Sun TV) and Welsh Fire (US-based Sanjay Govil), have Indian owners. Of these six, four teams are owned by Indian IPL franchises Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals, Lucknow SuperGiants and Sunrisers Hyderabad.“The Hundred Auction will see over 200 players go under the hammer, with the sixteen men’s and women’s teams picking up to 14 players each as they take a big step towards filling their squads ahead of the sixth edition of The Hundred this summer,” the England & Wales Cricket Board stated in a media release on Thursday.The women’s auction register includes India’s swashbuckling opener Shafali Verma, Beth Mooney, Nadine de Klerk, Amy Jones and Davina Perrin.The men’s teams will bid for players with Joe Root, Quinton de Kock, Jason Holder, Haris Rauf and Adil Rashid potentially among the early contenders. Auctioneer Richard Madley will run proceedings across both days.The men’s teams have a salary pot of £2.05m, while the women’s teams have a salary pot of £880,000. Each team has already spent a portion of their pot on pre-auction direct signings and retentions.Teams are allowed up to four pre-auction signings from mid-November to the end of January. A maximum of three can be direct signings and must be overseas or England centrally contracted players. A minimum of one will be a retention, which can be any player — England centrally contracted, overseas or domestic.Across the auction, teams will compete to sign players across three phases: Hero Players, Ranked Players and Nominated Players. Teams will each provide a long-list of players they are most interested in signing ahead of the auction, with the phases reflecting aggregated interest in each player.