45 men Pakistani players and 5 women players were ignored in the recent Hundred draft.
The player draft for the fifth season of The Hundred took place on Wednesday, and none of the 50 Pakistani players that entered the draft were selected, which is a stunning development.
Imad Wasim, Hassan Ali, Saud Shakeel, Salman Ali Agha, Naseem Shah, and Mohammad Amir were among the 45 Pakistan cricketers who entered the draft for The Hundred but were rejected by all eight franchises on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, five female Pakistan cricketers- Aliya Riaz, Fatima Sana, Yusra Amir, Iram Javed, and Jaweria Rauf- found no takers in the women's draft.
Afghanistan spinner Noor Ahmad and New Zealand all-rounder Michael Bracewell received the best offers, with Noor joining Manchester Originals and Bracewell being selected by Southern Brave. David Warner, a former Australian cricketer, was selected by London Spirit.
The rebuff comes after Indian owners invested in four of the eight The Hundred teams. Mumbai Indians own a stake of Rs 650 crore in Oval Invincibles, Sanjeev Goenka of Lucknow Super Giants owns the majority of Manchester Originals (with a stake of Rs 885 crore), IT magnate Sanjay Govil has invested about Rs 437 crore in Welsh Fire, and the Sun Group, which owns IPL team Sunrisers Hyderabad, owns a significant stake in the Northern Superchargers franchise worth around Rs 1,093 crore.
It must be noted that all six teams in South Africa’s SA20 league are co-owned by IPL franchises. Consequently, none of them pick up Pakistani players.
Earlier, England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chief executive Richard Gould had tried to allay fears that Indian owners coming on board would affect Pakistan players getting picked in teams.
While privatization appears to be a likely explanation for the Pakistani players' exclusion, it is also possible that their availability during the fifth season was a factor. Pakistan is slated to tour the West Indies for three One-Day Internationals and as many Twenty20 Internationals from the last week of July to mid-August.
They are also set to face Afghanistan in a three-match T20I series at home, with a possible fixture against Bangladesh around the same time.
The PCB issuing and revoking NOCs of the players has also played a role as Usama Mir’s NOC was revoked last season after he was picked in the Hundred draft.
(PTI inputs)