3 min readMar 16, 2026 04:44 PM IST
Sunil Gavaskar has said that Indian franchise owners should refrain from acquiring Pakistan players in teams owned by them that play in leagues outside India. Gavaskar’s comments come after Pakistan spinner Abrar Ahmed was acquired by Sunrisers Leeds in The Hundred Auction. Sunrisers are owned by the Chennai-based Sun TV Network, which also owns the Sunerisers Hyderabad in the IPL.
“The furore created by the acquisition of a Pakistani player by the Indian owner of a franchise in The Hundred is hardly surprising. Ever since the Mumbai attacks in November 2008, Indian franchise owners have simply ignored Pakistani players for the IPL,” wrote Gavaskar in his column for Mid-Day.
“Although belated, the realisation that the fees that they pay to a Pakistani player, who then pays income tax to his government which buys arms and weapons, indirectly contributes to the deaths of Indian soldiers and civilians is making Indian entities refrain from even considering having Pakistani artistes and sportspersons. Whether it is an Indian entity or an overseas subsidiary of the entity that is making the payment, if the owner is Indian then he or she is contributing to the Indian casualties. It’s as simple as that.”
‘Vettori may not understand byt the owner should’ve discourage the purchase’
Sunrisers Leeds head coach Daniel Vettori had said that the team management didn’t have any conversations about not buying Pakistan players. He further said that Abrar was among five players that they were looking to acquire after they missed out on England spinner Adil Rashid.
“Daniel Vettori, the coach of the team in The Hundred who hails from New Zealand, may not understand this simple dynamic and so may have wanted some Pakistani players in his team, but surely the owner should have had an understanding of the situation and discouraged the purchase. Is winning a tournament in a format that no other country plays in much more important than Indian lives?” said Gavaskar.
The Sunrisers’ decision has been met with significant backlash on social media. Gavaskar said that this could spill over whenever the team play their matches and crowds even staying away from the matches. “It won’t be a surprise that for every game that this team plays, whether at home or away there will be massive demonstrations by Indian fans protesting at this hard-to-believe buying. In fact, it won’t be a surprise that despite having some of the most attractive stroke makers in their team the crowds may stay away and show their disapproval of the decision. There’s still time to undo the wrong and hopefully wiser counsels will prevail,” said Gavaskar.
