• BBC, Telegraph reports say Indian-owned franchises won’t bid for Pakistani players
• Former England captain Vaughan says ECB should not allow this to happen
FORMER captain Michael Vaughan has urged the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to “act fast” on reports that Pakistani players will be overlooked by Indian-owned teams in the domestic Hundred competition.
The issue could be a factor during next month’s player auction for English cricket’s Hundred, a 100 balls-per-side competition featuring eight franchises rather than the traditional 18 first-class counties.
BBC Sport and The Telegraph have reported that with four of the eight franchises in the upcoming tournament owned by companies that control teams in the Indian Premier League (IPL), it is “an unwritten rule” that Pakistani players would not be considered for those team.
According to the BBC, a senior ECB official indicated to an agent that interest in his Pakistan players would be limited to sides not linked to the IPL.
Vaughan, referencing the ECB’s stated aim of cricket becoming the most inclusive sport in the country, posted on Friday on X: “The ECB need to act fast on this … they own the league, and this should not be allowed to happen … The most inclusive sport in the country is not one that allows this to happen.”
The Pakistan Cricket Board has not commented on the situation so far.
Politics, not sport
Longstanding political tensions between India and Pakistan have led to the rivals only playing each other in international cricket events, although their recent Colombo showdown at the ongoing T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka only went ahead after Pakistan called off a boycott.
Politics has also led to an effective ban on Pakistani players participating in the Indian Premier League, world cricket’s most lucrative T20 franchise competition.
And with several IPL owners now owning teams in several different countries, opportunities for Pakistani cricketers to participate in various leagues are in danger of being reduced further.
