Sunil Gavaskar, the former India captain, has criticised Sunrisers Leeds‘ signing of Pakistan spinner Abrar Ahmed for the upcoming Men’s Hundred season, claiming the money spent on the player “indirectly contributes to the deaths of Indian soldiers and civilians”.
The Headingley-based franchise, formerly Northern Superchargers, is owned by the Sun Group, which also runs Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL.
Abrar was signed for £190,000 at last week’s Men’s Hundred auction, allaying fears that Pakistan players would be subject to a “shadow ban” at IPL-affiliated teams, due to the ongoing political tensions between India and Pakistan.
However, there was a significant backlash against the decision on social media, against a backdrop of deteriorating relations between the two countries, including a four-day military conflict in May 2025.
Pakistan players have been unofficially excluded from the IPL since 2009, and the two countries have not engaged in a bilateral series since 2012-13. Their recent meeting at the T20 World Cup was nearly boycotted by the PCB, though it took place eventually on neutral territory in Sri Lanka, and the two captains continued a recent trend of foregoing handshakes at the toss.
Gavaskar’s comments were made in his newspaper column for Mid-Day. At the age of 76, he remains one of the most prominent figures in Indian cricket, and his intervention indicates the extent to which this issue could come to dominate this year’s Hundred, which is set to get underway in July.
“The furore created by the acquisition of a Pakistani player by the Indian owner of a franchise in The Hundred is hardly surprising,” he wrote. “Ever since the Mumbai attacks in November 2008, Indian franchise owners have simply ignored Pakistani players for the IPL.
“Although belated, the realisation that the fees that they pay to a Pakistani player, who then pays income tax to his government which buys arms and weapons, indirectly contributes to the deaths of Indian soldiers and civilians is making Indian entities refrain from even considering having Pakistani artistes and sportspersons.”
The Sun Group is a media organisation founded by Kalanithi Maran, whose daughter Kaviya was present at the Hundred auction. The men’s team head coach, Daniel Vettori, said afterwards that he had not been told to avoid bidding for certain players, but Gavaskar felt that there should have been more explicit instructions from the ownership.
“Whether it is an Indian entity or an overseas subsidiary of the entity that is making the payment, if the owner is Indian then he or she is contributing to the Indian casualties,” he wrote. “It’s as simple as that. There’s still time to undo the wrong and hopefully wiser counsels will prevail.”
In February, a BBC report had indicated that the four IPL-affiliated teams were unlikely to bid for Pakistan players at the auction. In response, the ECB wrote to all eight teams to remind them of their responsibilities around anti-discrimination, and subsequently issued a joint statement alongside the franchises, reiterating that “players must not be excluded on the grounds of nationality”.
A total of seven Pakistan players were involved in the Hundred auctions, including two women – Fatima Sana and Sadia Iqbal – neither of whom was sold. The only other men’s signing was Usman Tariq, who moved to Birmingham Phoenix, which is co-owned by American investment fund Knighthead Capital.
The franchise have been approached for comment.
