ECB Denies Pakistan Player Shadow-Ban
The England and Wales Cricket Board pushed back against reports of a "shadow-ban" on Pakistani players ahead of The Hundred auction, emphasizing that 67 Pakistan players have signed up. However, BBC reporting notes that IPL-linked teams are "not considering" Pakistan players, highlighting ongoing tensions in franchise cricket. Ben Stokes is notably not involved in this year's auction.
- Four of the eight teams in The Hundred are now either partially or fully owned by groups that also own Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises. These include Manchester Originals (Lucknow Super Giants' owner), Northern Superchargers (Sunrisers Hyderabad's owner), Southern Brave (Delhi Capitals' co-owner), and Oval Invincibles (Mumbai Indians' owner). - The Hundred is transitioning from a player draft to an IPL-style auction for the 2026 season. This new system will include a higher salary cap and allow for multi-year contracts. - Pakistani players have been unofficially barred from the IPL since the inaugural 2008 season due to political tensions between India and Pakistan. This trend has extended to other leagues with IPL-owned teams, such as South Africa's SA20, where no Pakistani players have been selected. - In the most recent draft for The Hundred in 2025, no Pakistani players were selected, despite 45 male and five female cricketers from the country registering. This included high-profile players like Naseem Shah and Shadab Khan. - Only a handful of Pakistani players have participated in previous editions of The Hundred. Mohammad Amir and Imad Wasim were the only two to feature in the 2025 season. - Former England captain Michael Vaughan has publicly called on the ECB to "act fast" and investigate the issue, stating that such exclusions should not be allowed to happen in a league owned by the board. - While the ECB maintains that The Hundred "welcomes... players from all over the world," a BBC report cited a senior ECB official who allegedly told a player agent that interest in Pakistani players would likely be limited to the four teams without IPL ownership. - The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has previously taken a strong stance against the perceived politicization of cricket, recently banning its players from a legends league after the Indian team refused to play against them.
