British media has reported Indian-owned franchises will not pick Pakistani players.
Former England all-rounder Moeen Ali has issued threat of a possible protest if The Hundred franchises ignore Pakistan players in the upcoming auction.
Recently, BBC reported that Indian-owned teams - Manchester Super Giants, MI London, Southern Brave, and Sunrisers Leeds - will not pick Pakistani players amid concerns over potential political backlash in India due to ongoing tensions between two nations.
The inside news has caused a significant stir in the English cricket fraternity, with former skipper Michael Vaughan urging the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to stop anything like this from happening.
The ECB has also instructed all franchises to ensure fair, non-discriminatory player selection for the upcoming auction, reiterating that the tournament is open to all international cricketers.
A total of 67 male and female cricketers from Pakistan have registered for The Hundred auction, scheduled for March 11 and 12.
Amid the outrage, Moeen – who has Pakistani roots – has said that it would be a “shame” for UK if players are discriminated against in The Hundred over their nationality.
“In the UK, I’m not sure that can happen – and I hope it doesn’t happen," Moeen told Telegraph Sport. “It just shouldn’t happen, hopefully it won’t happen. We just have to wait and see if it does, but I think it’d be a massive shame, and I’m sure the ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board) will definitely keep an eye out."
He didn’t rule out the possibility of taking collective action to put pressure on the franchises not to be involved in discriminatory act.
“There’ll be a group of players that will speak up," he said. “There’ll be things done about it. I think players should speak up. Anyone that has any sort of concern for these kind of things – it doesn’t matter if they have Pakistani heritage – should speak up. Obviously, the news is very new. So I’ve not really had a chance to speak to anyone, but most of the players would be on the same page. It’d be really interesting to see what happens, because I genuinely think other countries can do what they want, obviously we’re not in control of those things, but in the UK, we have a bit more say about these things."
The Indian Premier League (IPL) has not included Pakistani players since the 26/11 terrorist attack in 2008. No Pakistan cricketer has featured in SA20 since its launch in 2023, with all six franchises having Indian owners.
Similarly, in the UAE's ILT20, franchises controlled by the Indian owners have not picked a single Pakistan player across four seasons.