{"id":2039,"date":"2026-02-20T05:15:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T05:15:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iplonly.com\/uncategorized-en-in\/ipl-owners-ignoring-pakistan-players-the-hundred\/"},"modified":"2026-02-22T05:10:48","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T05:10:48","slug":"ipl-owners-ignoring-pakistan-players-the-hundred","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iplonly.com\/en-in\/news\/ipl-owners-ignoring-pakistan-players-the-hundred\/","title":{"rendered":"IPL Owners Ignore Pakistan Players in The Hundred"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Cricket has a funny way of mixing sport with politics. And right now, it seems like the two have gotten very cozy indeed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Four teams in England&#8217;s flashy The Hundred tournament now have Indian IPL money behind them. We&#8217;re talking Manchester Super Giants, MI London, Southern Brave, and SunRisers Leeds. And surprise, surprise, none of them appear to be interested in signing any Pakistan players. Not one. Zero. Zilch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>No Pakistani Player in The Hundred?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Apparently, a senior ECB official already told a player agent something along the lines of, &#8220;<strong>Hey, your Pakistan guys? Try the teams without Indian money<\/strong>.&#8221; An agent with more experience in this world simply shrugged and called it an &#8220;unwritten rule.&#8221; Not written anywhere. Not announced. Just understood. Like how everyone knows you don&#8217;t talk about the Wi-Fi password at a restaurant, but you still get it anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is not exactly new behavior. Pakistan players have not played in the IPL since 2009. That is not a typo. 2009. Some of today&#8217;s Pakistan cricketers were in school when that last happened. South Africa&#8217;s SA20 has also never featured a Pakistan player across all its seasons, and every single team there has IPL ownership. Coincidence? Sure. And the moon is made of cheese.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"720\" height=\"405\" src=\"https:\/\/iplonly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IPL-Owners-Ignore-Pakistan-Players-in-The-Hundred.webp\" alt=\"IPL Owners Ignore Pakistan Players in The Hundred\" class=\"wp-image-2003\" style=\"width:658px\" title=\"IPL Owners Ignore Pakistan Players in The Hundred\" srcset=\"https:\/\/iplonly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IPL-Owners-Ignore-Pakistan-Players-in-The-Hundred.webp 720w, https:\/\/iplonly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IPL-Owners-Ignore-Pakistan-Players-in-The-Hundred-300x169.webp 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><strong>Source: <\/strong>ESPN Cricinfo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The ECB spokesperson bravely said that The Hundred &#8220;welcomes players from all over the world.&#8221; Over 50 Pakistan players apparently registered for the auction. Welcome indeed. Just, you know, not to those four teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>James Sheridan from Manchester Super Giants kept things wonderfully vague, saying they are focused on &#8220;building the best possible squad.&#8221; Great stuff. Very reassuring. Just not for anyone holding a Pakistan passport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The players&#8217; union chief pointed out that every player deserves a fair shot. A very sensible thing to say. Whether anyone is listening is a completely different matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So here we are. Cricket, a sport that once united the subcontinent through pure passion and rivalry, is now quietly keeping that rivalry alive through auction lists and unwritten rules. Very diplomatic. Very petty. Very entertaining.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cricket has a funny way of mixing sport with politics. And right now, it seems like the two have gotten [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":2041,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"disabled","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>IPL Owners Ignore Pakistan Players in The Hundred<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Why IPL franchise owners in The Hundred avoided Pakistan players and why fans expected it. 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