Sunrisers faced social media backlash after signing Pakistan’s Abrar Ahmed for The Hundred, becoming the first Pakistani player signed by an Indian-owned team in the competition. The move sparked criticism from Indian fans, with the team’s official X account later being suspended.

NEW DELHI: The Sunrisers franchise faced heavy backlash on social media after signing Pakistan mystery spinner Abrar Ahmed in Thursday’s inaugural men’s The Hundred 2026 players’ auction. Abrar became the first Pakistani player to be signed by an Indian-owned team in The Hundred, with Sunrisers paying USD 255,000.The move did not sit well with many fans in India, who criticised Sunrisers and team owner Kavya Maran for signing a Pakistan player, saying it went against national sentiment.

At the auction, Kavya Maran was seen at the table alongside head coach Daniel Vettori. There had been heavy scrutiny beforehand over whether Indian-owned teams would bid for Pakistan players amid reports of a possible shadow ban.Shortly after acquiring Abrar, the Sunrisers Leeds official account on X was suspended. The platform did not give a specific reason, but users saw the message “Account suspended” when visiting the page, with the notice stating that “X suspends accounts which violate the X Rules.”Last year, Indian media company Sun TV fully took over the Leeds franchise in The Hundred, formerly called Northern Superchargers, by buying 49% from the ECB and 51% from Yorkshire.Sunrisers’ other teams, Sunrisers Hyderabad (IPL) and Sunrisers Eastern Cape (SA20), had never signed an active Pakistan player before. In the auction, Sunrisers won the bidding war against Trent Rockets to secure Abrar Ahmed.