There is an uproar in England’s franchise league ‘The Hundred’ over the purchase of Pakistani player Abrar Ahmed by the Indian-owned team Sunrisers Leeds. This team of IPL franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad group bought this player in the auction for 1.90 lakh pounds. Indian cricket fans are expressing their unhappiness regarding this. The reason for this is the relations between India and Pakistan, which have been going bad for many years and due to this they are banned even in the world’s biggest league, IPL. But do you know that in the first season of IPL, there were 5 teams in which Pakistani players played and one of them was Hyderabad.
IPL It started in 2008 and at that time India-Pakistan relations were somewhat better. At least the cricket relations between the two countries had become completely normal and bilateral series were being played in each other’s country. Meanwhile, the first season of IPL was played in April 2008, in which many Pakistani stars were included. However, after the attack by Pakistani terrorists in Mumbai on 26 November 2008, the situation changed again and due to that Pakistani players could never play again.
Kolkata Knight Riders
In the first season of IPL, there were 5 such franchises which bought Pakistani players. Maximum 4 players were in Kolkata Knight Riders. Kolkata, captained by Sourav Ganguly, included the world’s fastest bowler Shoaib Akhtar. Apart from them, Pakistani opener Salman Butt, fast bowler Umar Gul and all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez also got a place in the team.
Rajasthan Royals
At the same time, Rajasthan Royals had also given place to 3 Pakistani players. Rajasthan Royals had selected Pakistani pacer Sohail Tanvir, wicketkeeper batsman Umran Akmal and veteran batsman Younis Khan. But only Tanveer was the most effective in this and was the first bowler to win the Purple Cap in IPL. By taking the most wickets, he helped make Rajasthan the champion.
Delhi Daredevils
On the other hand, the then Delhi Daredevils had placed bets on two ace Pakistani players. In this, fast bowler Mohammad Asif and star all-rounder Shoaib Malik were included in the squad.
Deccan Chargers
After Shoaib Akhtar, all-rounder Shahid Afridi was the second biggest Pakistani superstar at that time. This explosive all-rounder was then bought by Hyderabad’s old team Deccan Chargers. Afridi was an important part of the super powerful line-up of that Deccan team, which included names like Adam Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds and Herschelle Gibbs.
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Apart from these, Royal Challengers Bangalore also bought a Pakistani player in the auction and this was Misbah Ul Haq, who was a part of the Pakistani team in the T20 World Cup 2007 just a few months before the auction and missed the final by taking Pakistan close to victory.
This Pakistani played even after the ban
However, apart from these 5 teams, one team also gave a chance to a Pakistani player and this is Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings). Punjab had bought Pakistani all-rounder Azhar Mahmood three years after the ban on Pakistani players. But the difference was that by that time Mahmood had acquired British citizenship and on this basis he was given a chance. He was a part of the franchise in 2012 and 2013 and then also played for Kolkata in 2015.