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Daniel Vettori reaction on Abrar Ahmed: Sunrisers Leeds coach Daniel Vettori has broken his silence on the ongoing controversy involving Abrar Ahmed in The Hundred. Vettori explained why his team bid for the Pakistani spinner in the auction. Among the teams with Indian owners, Sunrisers Leeds are the only team to have signed a Pakistani player.
The Sunrisers Leeds coach has broken his silence on the ongoing controversy involving Pakistani spinner Abrar Ahmed at The Hundred auction. Sunrisers Leeds bought Abrar Ahmed for over ₹2 crore (around $20 million), which led to criticism from team owner Kavya Maran. Coach Vettori clarified that the team had bid for Abrar in the auction.
Daniel Vettori said he was unable to get Adil Rashid in the auction, forcing him to get a foreign spinner. This makes Abrar the first Pakistani player to be signed by an Indian-owned team, sparking controversy in India. Many fans have taken to social media to criticize Sunrisers leads and owner Kavya Maran. After this, the official account of Sunrisers Leeds was also suspended. The team owners are yet to respond to the criticism.
The team owners have not yet responded to the demand and supply of the auction, but Vettori said the decision was based on the supply and demand of the auction. Abrar was picked when Rashid was unavailable. Vettori said, “When we couldn’t get Adil Rashid, which was our priority, we looked at foreign spinners. Four or five players were considered, and Abrar was one of them.”
It is worth noting that apart from Sunrisers, no other Indian-owned team has signed a Pakistani player. Earlier reports suggested a shadow ban on Pakistani players for Indian-owned teams in The Hundred, but later all eight franchises issued statements saying player selection would be based on merit and cricketing ability.
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