3 min learnFeb 19, 2026 11:43 PM IST
Consistent with the largely prevalent observe in T20 franchise leagues all over the world, no Pakistani gamers shall be thought-about by groups with Indian funding at subsequent month’s public sale for The Hundred.
No Pakistani participant has featured within the Indian Premier League (IPL) after the inaugural season in 2008, or within the three seasons of the SA20 – the place all six groups are owned by IPL franchise teams. The identical applies to the ILT20 league within the United Arab Emirates.
4 of the eight groups in The Hundred now have stakes owned by house owners of IPL franchises, and they won’t bid for any Pakistani gamers, the BBC reported. It claimed {that a} participant agent had referred to this example as “an unwritten rule” throughout leagues with Indian funding.
Based on the report, a senior official from the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has indicated to an agent that curiosity in his Pakistan gamers can be restricted to sides not linked to the IPL.
The franchises not less than part-owned by IPL entities are Manchester Tremendous Giants, Southern Courageous, MI London, and Sunrisers Leeds. The possession got here into impact on October 1, 2025.
The match comes below the jurisdiction of the unbiased cricket regulator, established following the 2023 Fairness in Cricket report, and any discrimination on the premise of nationality could run in opposition to its laws.
“The Hundred welcomes males’s and girls’s gamers from everywhere in the world and we might count on the eight groups to replicate that, an ECB spokesperson stated.
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“Virtually 1,000 cricketers from 18 nations have registered for The Hundred public sale, with illustration on the longlist of over 50 gamers respectively from Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Pakistan, and West Indies.”
ECB chief government Richard Gould had stated final yr that he anticipated “gamers from all nations to be chosen for all groups” in The Hundred and warned that “clear anti-discrimination insurance policies” have been in place.
Mohammad Amir and Imad Wasim have been the Pakistani gamers to function in final yr’s version whereas Shaheen Afridi, Shadab Khan and Haris Rauf have been amongst those that performed in earlier competitions.
“Each participant ought to have the fitting to truthful and equal alternative,” Tom Moffat, chief government of the World Cricketers’ Affiliation, was quoted as saying. “Whereas employers have autonomy in recruitment, these selections ought to all the time align with ideas of equity, equality and respect.”