Coaches of The Hundred franchises backed by the Indian Premier League (IPL) have said they have not received any instructions to avoid signing Pakistani players.
In February, BBC Sport reported that four teams with IPL investments—Southern Brave, MI London, Manchester Supergiants and Sunrisers Leeds—were expected to refrain from picking Pakistani players, mirroring the de facto ban observed in India.
In response, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and all eight hundred franchises issued a joint statement, insisting that “players should not be excluded on grounds of nationality”.
Speaking ahead of the men’s auction, the coaches of the two IPL-affiliated teams said they have been given complete autonomy over recruitment.
Women’s Sunrisers Leeds head coach Adi Prell, who is part of a global network that includes franchises in India and South Africa—confirmed that she was never distracted from the Pakistani players.
“No, I’m not,” he said. “I’m sure some players will have some interest tomorrow.” Asked if he expects bids from IPL-backed teams, he added, “I think so, but I don’t know. I assume so. I haven’t heard that they won’t bid for them.”
Her counterpart at Southern Brave, women’s head coach Jonathan Patty, echoed the sentiment.
“The only thing I was told was, ‘Sign the best players to make this the best team you can’,” Patty explained. “We don’t have any instructions other than that, we have complete autonomy over who we sign. That’s how it was with the women’s team”.
Despite these assurances, the results of the auctions have been stark. On Wednesday, two Pakistani players—including world number one T20I bowler Sadia Iqbal—went unsold in the women’s auction, with none of the eight teams bidding.
Attention now shifts to Thursday’s men’s auction where 17 Pakistani players were initially in the pool, including pacers Haris Rauf and Shaheen Afridi. However, in a late development on Wednesday night, pacer Shaheen Afridi opted out of the process.
Historically, the exemption system stretches back over a century. Sunrisers Leeds’ sister franchise in South Africa’s SA20, Sunrisers Eastern Cape, is one of six teams in the competition. All six have been linked to IPL franchise groups and none have fielded a Pakistan player.
Also, Mo Bobat, director of cricket at London Spirit (which is not owned by an IPL team but has soft links with Royal Challengers Bangalore) pointed to stiff competition for places.
“Hundreds of foreign players have registered for the auction, and there are only 16 foreign slots available, so a lot of foreign players will be disappointed,” Bobat said. “We are considering all players from all places because we want to be as strong as possible”.
The first bid for both The Hundred and a major British game follows the recent £500m sale of shares in eight teams.
As the men’s bidding gets underway, the cricketing world will be watching closely to see if the actions match the words.