Pakistan spinner Abrar Ahmed is “not losing sleep” over the backlash after he was signed by an Indian-owned franchise, Sunrisers Leeds in the auction for the upcoming edition of The Hundred.
Abrar, who is currently ranked third in ICC rankings for bowlers was signed by Sunrisers Leeds for £190,000, roughly Rs 2.3 crore, which also owns Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL and the Sunrisers Eastern Cape in SA20.
The franchise owners are facing severe backlash in India including former India captain Sunil Gavaskar, who in a newspaper column wrote that the signing “indirectly contributes to the deaths of Indian soldiers and civilians”. However, Abrar is not worried by the furore and comments, Telecom Asia Sport has reported.
The Pakistan Cricket Board and Abrar are yet to comment on the issue, and according to sources, there are no concerns because the matter is between England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and the franchise.
“The noise on Abrar’s signing is not unexpected, but he is not losing sleep over the uproar,” PCB sources have told telecomasia.net.
“Abrar registered for The Hundred as he is ready to ply his trade in the leagues around the world and was signed as one of the top three bowlers in T20I rankings, which is well deserved,” the report added, quoting sources.
“The coach of Sunrisers Leeds, Daniel Vettori, conveyed the signing to Abrar and advised him to be in touch and prepared to give his best,” the sources said.
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.
“Once we missed out on Adil Rashid [to Southern Brave], who was a priority early on, then we obviously jumped into the overseas spinner. There were four or five guys that we were looking at, and Abrar was one of them. Very pleased to get him,” Daniel Vettori said after the conclusion of the auction.
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.
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. The relations between the two countries hit their lowest point after the terrorist attack in Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir in April last year.
