The Hundred: Not Only Sunrisers Leeds, This IPL-Backed Side Also Had Pakistani Players In Wishlist

Southern Brave head coach Hemang Badani has revealed that his team was also interested in signing Pakistani players during the inaugural auction of The Hundred on Thursday. His remarks come amid criticism over the signing of Pakistan spinner Abrar Ahmed by the Sunrisers Leeds, the sister franchise of IPL side Sunrisers Hyderabad. Southern Brave, who are co-owned by the GMR Group, are one of the four IPL-backed teams in The Hundred this season. On being asked about the possibility of signing Pakistani players, Badani admitted that they did have some of them on their wishlist.

"We had a few players in our list," Badani told The Times of India.

Badani, who is also the head coach of IPL side Delhi Capitals (DC), said that they had entered the auction with the priority of signing a local or an overseas spinner.

The franchise managed to sign England leggie Adil Rashid, who was the second player to go under the hammer on Thursday, for 250,000 pounds.

"The bottom line is that we're looking at securing the best squad. And the best squad is what we felt the way we went forward. Because we had (Tristan) Stubbs already, we had Marcus Stoinis already. We were looking at either an overseas spinner or a local spinner. And we secured Adil Rashid," he added.

Badani also reflected on their decision to sign India-born all-rounder Nikhil Chaudhary.

"And then we went to Nikhil Chaudhary to be our all-rounder. So I think in most ways, you're just looking at ensuring that you pick the best one," he continued.

Meanwhile, Abrar became the first Pakistani player signed by an Indian-owned franchise in the tournament. The move to sign Abrar didn't go down well with fans, who took to X to criticise the team's owner and the franchise, terming them anti-national.

Just hours after the team signed Abrar for 190,000 pounds (Rs 2.3 crore), Sunrisers Leeds' official X (formerly Twitter) account was suspended.

(With IANS Inputs)