Abrar Ahmed was bought by Sunrisers Leeds for 190,000 pounds.
Sunrisers Leeds paid £190,000 (INR 2.34 crore) for the Pakistani mystery spinner, making him the first player from the nation to be acquired by an Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise in the Hundred tournament.
Ahmed, who is ranked third in T20Is in the world, was bought by SRL co-owner Kavya Maran, who raised the paddle for the win against Trent Rockets.
Ahead of the auction, there were reports that IPL franchisees would not buy Pakistani stars. However, Sunrisers proved the rumors wrong by signing Ahmed.
Earlier in the auction, another mystery spinner, Usman Tariq, became the first Pakistani player to be purchased for the 2026 season of The Hundred. He was signed by Birmingham Phoenix, a non-IPL franchise, for £140,000 (INR 1.72 crore). Haris Rauf, Shadab Khan, and Saim Ayub remained unsold.
However, Sunrisers Leeds’ decision to buy the Pakistani spinner has made them a target on social media, with the Indian fans slamming them for going for Ahmed.
Much of the wrath directed at Abrar derives from an old social media post in which he appeared to be targeting India, specifically Indian Air Force officer Abhinandan Varthaman, who was captured by Pakistani forces during a 2019 conflict between India and Pakistan.
Ahead of the T20 World Cup, he posted a video of Fakhar Zaman and Saim Ayub drinking tea while Abrar made comments that many saw as disparaging India. He had previously submitted a post about drinking tea, which was interpreted as anti-India.
However, a controversy has erupted with social media users reminding Maran that Ahmed had made anti-India posts in the past.
Here are some posts: