Sunrisers Leeds successfully bought mystery spinner Abrar Ahmed for £190,000 (US$255,000) on the morning of the inaugural men’s Hundred auction in London, making him the first Pakistan player signed by an Indian-owned team in the tournament.
The Indian media conglomerate Sun TV completed a full takeover of the franchise formerly known as Northern Superchargers last year, buying a 49% stake from the ECB and the remaining 51% from Yorkshire for around £100 million. Stakes in three other Hundred teams were also sold to investors who own IPL franchises.
There has been significant scrutiny on whether those four franchises would bid on Pakistan players in Thursday’s auction after reports of a potential ‘shadow-ban’, even after the eight franchises had committed to selecting based solely on “performance, availability, and the needs of each team” before the auction.
But Sunrisers – whose sister franchises Sunrisers Hyderabad (IPL) and Sunrisers Eastern Cape (SA20) have never previously signed an active Pakistan player – won a bidding war with Trent Rockets to secure Abrar’s services shortly before the lunch break.
Abrar was the second Pakistan player sold on Thursday morning after Usman Tariq, who was bought for £140,000 (US$187,000) by Birmingham Phoenix. Both Rockets and Phoenix are co-owned by their host counties (Nottinghamshire and Warwickshire respectively) and American investor groups.
Several Pakistan players have previously played for global T20 teams owned or part-owned by IPL franchises, but no active Pakistan internationals have featured in the IPL since 2008 due to the long-running geopolitical tensions between India and Pakistan.
Uncapped Sussex allrounder James Coles was the most expensive player on Thursday morning, attracting an eye-watering £390,000 (US$522,000) salary from London Spirit after a five-way bidding war.
Coles, the 21-year-old who is widely tipped to make his international debut this summer, earned just £31,000 in the Hundred last summer when he played for Southern Brave. But he has since enjoyed a breakthrough winter on the franchise circuit, winning the SA20 with Sunrisers Eastern Cape, and also impressed in England Lions’ series against Pakistan Shaheens.
From a base price of £75,000, Coles attracted early bids from Manchester Super Giants, as well as Phoenix and Rockets. Sunrisers Leeds entered the bidding at £220,000 and Rockets dropped out at £260,000, only for London Spirit to enter and eventually gazump Sunrisers to secure his services.
Coles is set to be the fourth-highest earner in the Hundred this summer, behind only Harry Brook (£465,000 at Sunrisers Leeds), Phil Salt (£450,000 at Welsh Fire) and Jofra Archer (£400,000 at Southern Brave) who were all pre-signed before Thursday’s auction.
Thursday morning’s bidding also saw substantial paydays for Jordan Cox (£300,000 at Welsh Fire), Tom Curran (£260,000 at MI London) and Adil Rashid (£250,000 at Southern Brave). Joe Root was the first player sold, for £240,000 (US$321,000) to Welsh Fire, while Dan Lawrence netted £210,000 (US$281,000) from Sunrisers after they missed out on Coles.
Aiden Markram attracted the highest bid of any overseas player, earning a £200,000 (US$277,000) contract at Manchester Super Giants. Markram already plays for two other Super Giants teams: Lucknow in the IPL, and Durban in the SA20.
