The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) vice-president Rajeev Shukla said on Friday (March 13) that the board is ‘least concerned’ about Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH)’s sister franchise, Sunrisers Leeds, signing Pakistan international spinner Abrar Ahmed in The Hundred auction.
Ahmed, 27, is a leg-spinner who has played 46 Tests, 28 ODIs, and 52 T20Is for Pakistan, and will earn £190,000 (approx INR 2.34 crore) from SRH for playing in the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB)’s flagship 100-ball competition. It has caused a huge furor in India, with fans digging out Ahmed’s taunts towards India with political undertones during last year’s Indo-Pak conflict.
“Our domain is limited to the IPL. We have nothing to do with what they do in a league outside that. How can we interfere with them signing a player in a foreign league? That’s up to them. It’s purely up to the franchise that has bought a team outside India. If they are taking some player outside India in that league, we are least concerned because, in IPL, there is no such player,” Shukla said.
Indian sporting teams, and especially Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises, have a long-lasting shadow ban on Pakistani internationals due to the hostile political relations between the neighbors. As the Indian cricket ecosystem has grown richer and spread in private leagues around the world, these rules have travelled too.
SRH owners Sun Group alongside three other Indian companies, took complete or majority ownership in four teams in The Hundred. It was believed that, just like the South African competition, the SA20, the shadow ban would continue in the English tournament.
