The chatter around the upcoming edition of the Hundred has now reached the T20 World Cup. For the past two days, several reports have been doing the rounds, claiming that the four teams in the competition, which have some sort of Indian investment, wouldn’t be picking up any players from Pakistan, and the status quo would remain just like the Indian Premier League (IPL), UAE’s ILT20 and South Africa’s A20. The Pakistan players have not been picked in the IPL since 2009, while no teams owned by IPL franchises have picked Pakistan players in the ILT20 or SA20 in the last few years.
63 Pakistan players have indeed signed up for the Hundred auction, set to take place in March 2026, but no one knows whether the Indian owners would be willing to bring them on board.
On Saturday, England captain Harry Brook was asked to comment on the raging controversy, saying it would be a shame if no Pakistan player is able to make his or her presence felt in the upcoming edition of the tournament, which will be held under the supervision of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).
“Our main focus now is what’s coming up in the T20 World Cup. It’s not really any of our business, to be honest, but what I would say is that Pakistan have been a great cricket nation for many years. I think there’s about 50, 60 players in the auction, and it would be a shame not to see some of them in there,” Brook told reporters on Saturday ahead of the T20 World Cup Super 8s match against Sri Lanka in Pallekele.
“There are some amazing cricketers and, yeah, they bring some great crowds as well. So it would be a shame not to see some of the Pakistan players in there and make the tournament and competition even better,” he added.
There are four teams in the Hundred with some form of Indian investment: MI London, Manchester Super Giants, Southern Brave, and SunRisers Leeds. According to a BBC report, player agents have been informed that Pakistan players’ participation will be restricted to teams with no Indian investment.
When is the Hundred auction?
The auction for the upcoming edition of the Hundred is scheduled to take place on March 11 and 12. Pakistan players such as Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Usman Tariq have all signed up for the auction.
Earlier, former England captain Michael Vaughan had urged the ECB to step in and not be dictated terms by the Indian owners. He also said that the ECB cannot become a party to attempts to isolate Pakistan players.
Shaheen and Shadab Khan had featured in the previous edition of the tournament, but since the Indian investment came into effect on October 1, 2025, no one knows what the future holds for them regarding participation in the competition.
