For the first time, an auction of players is being organized in England’s franchise league, ‘The Hundred’. Bidding took place on players for the Women’s League on the first day of the two-day auction. Now it is the turn of the Men’s League on Thursday, March 12, the second day of the auction. However, even before the auction, Pakistan cricket team’s star fast bowler Shaheen Shah has been out of the race with Afridi. According to reports, Shaheen Afridi, who was included in the long-list of Pakistani players prepared for the auction, will not be bid now because he has withdrawn his name.
Shaheen will not be seen again in The Hundred
All 8 franchises are going to bid on dozens of players in the first auction of The Hundred on Thursday. in this auction Pakistan 14 players got places. Although star Pakistani players like Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan had not already registered for this auction, Shaheen Afridi was included in it, who had played in the league earlier also. In such a situation, there were hopes of being bought. But now he is not a part of this auction.
According to Pakistani media reports, Shaheen himself has withdrawn his name from the auction. Why he took this decision is not clear, but the news of his exit has come just a few hours before the auction. Shaheen had earlier played for the Welsh Fire team in The Hundred. In the 2023 season, he played 6 matches for this franchise and took 6 wickets. Left-arm fast bowler Shaheen is currently captaining the Pakistan ODI team, where under his leadership the Pakistani team faced a crushing defeat by 8 wickets in the first ODI match on the Bangladesh tour.
Eyes on the selection of Pakistani players
Most eyes are on whether the franchises of this league will buy Pakistani players or not, in which the IPL franchise owners have a stake. Almost half or the entire stake in the 4 franchises of The Hundred is owned by the 4 franchise owners associated with IPL. Before the auction, a report in the British media had claimed that teams with Indian owners would not buy Pakistani players, which created a huge uproar. After this, the tournament organizer England Cricket Board and all the franchises together issued a statement and said that the players will be bought on the basis of their ability.