Sunrisers Leeds and its co-owner received a massive flak after they bought Pakistan spinner Abrar Ahmed for £190,000, roughly Rs 2.3 crore at The Hundred auction recently. The backlash was huge on the social media leading to the suspension of SunRisers Leeds’ X account.
The owners of Sunrisers Leeds also own Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL and the Sunrisers Eastern Cape in SA20.
Pakistan players are banned from IPL and only featured in the inaugural 2008 edition. Following the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, no Pakistan players were picked for the 2009 edition of the IPL, and it has continued to remain the same.
Before The Hundred auction, media reports emerged that IPL-owned franchises would distance themselves from picking Pakistan players. This was criticised by former England players who urged the ECB to intervene. After a few days, ECB and all the franchises issued a statement saying there would be no discrimination at the auction based on nationality.
However, Indian batting legend Sunil Gavaskar is not surprised by the furore after Sunrisers Leeds backed by an Indian owner signed Abrar Ahmed. Gavaskar was blunt and said such a move “indirectly contributes to the deaths of Indian soldiers and civilians”.
“The furore created by the acquisition of a Pakistani player by the Indian owner of a franchise in The Hundred is hardly surprising. 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,” Gavaskar wrote in a column for Mid-day.
Sunrisers Leeds’ head coach Daniel Vettori had earlier said that when the franchise missed out to buy England spinner Adil Rashid, Pakistan’s Abrar Ahmed emerged as the best option to strengthen the spin department.
“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. It’s as simple as that. Daniel Vettori, the coach of the team in The Hundred who hails from New Zealand, may not understand this simple dynamic and so may have wanted some Pakistani players in his team, but surely the owner should have had an understanding of the situation and discouraged the purchase. Is winning a tournament in a format that no other country plays in much more important than Indian lives?”
Gavaskar also warned that the franchise could face boycott during matches, and added: “It won’t be a surprise that for every game that this team plays, whether at home or away there will be massive demonstrations by Indian fans protesting at this hard-to-believe buying. In fact, it won’t be a surprise that despite having some of the most attractive stroke makers in their team the crowds may stay away and show their disapproval of the decision.”
“There’s still time to undo the wrong and hopefully wiser counsels will prevail,” he also said.
Commenting on the situation, BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla said on Friday that the Board cannot intervene as the signing is related to a foreign league and the franchise will have to take a call.
