14 Pakistan cricketers have been shortlisted for the upcoming The Hundred auction. The announcement follows scrutiny over reports suggesting that four teams connected to IPL franchises could enforce a โshadow banโ on Pakistani players, a move the ECB and franchises have publicly countered.
The England and Wales Cricket Board, together with the eight franchises, released a statement emphasising that selections would be based on โperformance, availability, and the needs of each team.โย
From the 710 players registered for the menโs auction, an initial longlist included 63 Pakistani players. Teams were asked to narrow down their preferred candidates to roughly 75-100 by last week. The list has since been reduced to 243 players, now in circulation and reported by ESPNcricinfo, including the following 14 Pakistanis: Haris Rauf, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Usman Tariq, Saim Ayub, Abrar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Mohammad Amir, Zaman Khan, Usama Mir, Imad Wasim, Akif Javed, and Salman Mirza.
Rauf, left out of Pakistanโs recent World Cup squad, will be among the 10 marquee players opening the menโs auction on March 12. The domestic marquee players are Jonny Bairstow, Adil Rashid, James Vince, Jordan Cox, and Joe Root. Overseas marquee names include Aiden Markram, David Miller, Sunil Narine, Daryl Mitchell, and Rauf.
Notably, Rauf has previously played in the Hundred, taking 16 wickets across two seasons with Welsh Fire and was the leading wicket-taker in the recent Big Bash League for Melbourne Stars under Trent Rockets coach Peter Moores. While Pakistan tour the Caribbean for a Test series during the Hundred window, their white-ball specialists are expected to be available, pending No-Objection Certificates from the PCB.
Two women cricketers drafted
Meanwhile, Sahibzada Farhan, who had expressed hope of being picked, was not included in the longlist despite being the leading run-scorer in the ongoing T20 World Cup.
In the womenโs longlist, two Pakistan internationals, Fatima Sana and Sadia Iqbal, are included, marking a first for the tournament. The auctions will be held in Piccadilly, London, on March 11 for women and March 12 for men. The 10 womenโs marquee names are Dani Gibson, Sarah Glenn, Amy Jones, Tammy Beaumont, Davina Perrin, Nadine de Klerk, Sophie Devine, Beth Mooney, Sophie Molineux, and Deepti Sharma.
Also Read: