Sunrisers leeds faces backlash after signing pakistani player, franchise’s X account suspended

New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): The player auction for the upcoming season of The Hundred Men’s League was held on March 12. During the auction, Sunrisers franchise team Sunrisers Leeds signed Pakistani spinner Abrar Ahmed. Sunrisers Hyderabad owner Kavya Maran was present at the auction and placed the bid for the player. The franchise eventually bought him for around ₹2.3 crore.

However, controversy erupted on social media soon after Sunrisers Leeds picked the Pakistani cricketer in the auction for The Hundred 2026. Many Indian cricket fans criticized the franchise for the decision.

Amid the growing controversy, the official account of Sunrisers Leeds on social media platform X was also suspended. The reason for the suspension has not been officially disclosed. Generally, accounts are suspended when platform rules are violated. Reports suggest that the franchise’s account was suspended around 2 a.m. following the auction.

Abrar Ahmed has now become the first Pakistani player to be bought by an Indian-owned team in The Hundred. The Sunrisers franchise signed him for 255,000 US dollars, which is approximately ₹2.3 crore.

The decision to buy a Pakistani player drew criticism from some cricket fans in India, with many trolling the franchise on social media. Some fans claimed that Kavya Maran’s decision was against national sentiment. As a result, questions are now being raised about whether the franchise might release Abrar Ahmed in the future.

Notably, before the auction, reports had suggested that Indian-owned franchises might avoid signing Pakistani players in The Hundred auction. Discussions about a possible “shadow ban” were also circulating.

However, Sunrisers coach Daniel Vettori said the decision to sign Abrar Ahmed was purely based on cricketing considerations. He stated that earlier in the year the franchise had taken feedback from Australian players regarding Abrar’s performance, and based on those assessments the team decided to include him. He also clarified that there was no special meeting within the franchise about whether to sign Pakistani players or not.