Overview:
Rajeev Shukla, the BCCI vice-president, said the board has no say in the matter and they can't intervene as it is related to an overseas league.
Former India player Sunil Gavaskar has warned the Sunrisers Leeds for buying Pakistan spinner Abrar Ahmed in The Hundred auction. The team owned by the Sun Group spent over 2 crore to add Abrar to their squad for the upcoming season of the tournament. The Indians fans slammed them, and their X account was also suspended. They also own Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League and the SunRisers Eastern Cape in SA20.
Pakistan players are now allowed to play in the IPL, and the Indian owners have ignored them in other leagues across the globe. This is the first instance in which an Indian business group signed a Pakistani cricketer.
Gavaskar didn’t like the move and stated that Indian teams shouldn’t buy Pakistan players.
“The furore is not surprising. Since the Mumbai attack in 2008, Indian owners have ignored Pakistani players. The fees paid to a Pakistani player, who then pays income tax in Pakistan, are also used to buy arms and weapons to target Indian soldiers and civilians. This is the reason why Indian teams refrain from buying Pakistan cricketers,” Sunil Gavaskar wrote in a column for Mid-day.
“No Indian owner should be contributing to the casualties at home. Daniel Vettori, who is the head coach of the franchise, is from New Zealand, and he is not aware of this dynamic. The owner should understand the situation and stop the purchase. Is winning a tournament bigger than Indian lives?”
According to Gavaskar, fans may boycott the franchise. “It won’t be surprising if the fans turn against the franchise in home and away matches. There is a possibility of fans staying away from their games despite the presence of some of the best T20 players in the team,” he mentioned.
“There is time left to correct the mistake, and I hope better sense prevails,” he concluded.
Rajeev Shukla, the BCCI vice-president, said the board has no say in the matter and they can’t intervene as it is related to an overseas league.