The Hundred auction 2026 - Sunrisers Leeds sign Pakistan spinner Abrar Ahmed in Hundred auction

Sunrisers Leeds successfully purchased mystery spinner Abrar Ahmed for £190,000 (US$255,000) on the morning of the first men’s hundreds auction in London, making him the first Pakistani player to be signed by an Indian-owned team in the tournament.

Indian media giant Sun TV took full ownership of the franchise, formerly known as Northern Superchargers, last year, buying a 49% stake from the ECB and the remaining 51% from Yorkshire for around £100 million. Stakeholds in three other Hundred teams were also sold to investors who own IPL franchises.

There has been considerable scrutiny as to whether these four franchises will bid for Pakistani players in Thursday’s auction following reports of a potential ‘shadow ban’. That was even after eight franchises committed before the auction to make their selection based solely on “performance, availability and the needs of each team.”

“At one point we lost Adil Rashid. [to Southern Brave]“Who was the priority in the early days, then obviously the overseas spinners jumped in,” Sunrisers coach Daniel Vettori said. “There were four or five players we were keeping an eye on and Abra was one of them. We are very happy to have him.”

Sunrisers, whose sister franchises Sunrisers Hyderabad (IPL) and Sunrisers Eastern Cape (SA20) have not previously signed an active Pakistani player, won a bidding war with Trent Rockets to secure Abrar’s services just before lunch. Vettori stated that there was no internal discussion that the franchise would not select a Pakistani and that they sought advice from Australian players who faced Abrar earlier in the year (Vettori is also an Australian assistant coach).

“We just made a plan for everyone involved in the auction. There were no discussions. [about not picking Pakistan players] – It was about who was the best choice. After missing Adil Rashid, their priority was to buy a spin bowler and they had to go overseas as they did not feel the quality was there in the domestic market. Rishad Hussain, Usman Tariq, Abrar Ahmed – they were all guys who were on our radar.

“It’s a bit of a mystery. I don’t think there are many England players who have seen him, but he played in the recent Australia series. The feedback from the Australian players was that he would be tricky to play against, would have a lot of variation and attacking ability in the powerplay, and would still be in the middle-order. I think that’s a key requirement at Headingley. Spinners were the only players who were really successful there. Having him will make a huge difference for us.”

Abrar was the second Pakistani player to be sold on Thursday morning, following Usman Tariq, who was bought by Birmingham Phoenix for £140,000 (US$187,000). Both the Rockets and Phoenix are jointly owned by their host counties (Nottinghamshire and Warwickshire respectively) and an American investment group.

Several Pakistani players have previously played for global T20 teams owned or part-owned by IPL franchises, but no active Pakistan international player has featured in the IPL since 2008 due to long-standing geopolitical tensions between India and Pakistan.

Uncapped Sussex all-rounder James Coles was the most expensive player on Thursday, receiving an eye-watering £390,000 (US$522,000) salary from the London Spirit after a five-way bidding war.

Coles, 21, who is expected to make his international debut this summer, earned just £31,000 from the Hundreds when he played for the Southern Brave last summer. However, he has since enjoyed a breakthrough winter on the franchise circuit, including winning SA20 with Sunrisers Eastern Cape, and also impressed in England Lions’ series against Pakistan Shaheens.

At a base price of £75,000, Coles attracted early bids from the Manchester Super Giants as well as the Phoenix and Rockets. Sunrisers Leeds put in a bid for £220,000 and the Rockets put in a bid for £260,000, but the London Spirit came in and it was ultimately the Sunrisers who had the gazump to secure his services.

Coles is set to become the fourth highest earner for the Hundreds this summer, behind Harry Brook (£465,000 from Sunrisers Leeds), Phil Salt (£450,000 from Welsh Fire) and Jofra Archer (£400,000 from Southern Brave), who were all pre-contracted before Thursday’s auction.

Thursday’s bidding also saw significant payouts for Jordan Cox (£300,000 from Welsh Fire), Tom Curran (£260,000 from MI London) and Adil Rashid (£250,000 from Southern Brave). Joe Root was the first player to be sold for £240,000 (US$321,000) to Welsh Fire, while Dan Lawrence earned £210,000 (US$281,000) from the Sunrisers after missing out on Coles.

Aiden Markram has become the highest bidder for an overseas player, securing a £200,000 (US$277,000) contract from Manchester Super Giants. Markram is already playing for two other Super Giants teams – Lucknow in the IPL and Durban in SA20.

In the afternoon bidding, Scott Currie (£210,00 from Birmingham Phoenix) and Sam Billings (£180,000 from Trent Rockets) secured significant deals, while England Under-19 captain Thomas Rew joined the Southern Brave for £80,000 (US$107,000) despite playing just three first-team T20 matches. Mustafizur Rahman later became the first Bangladeshi player to sign for the Hundred when he was nominated in the final round by Birmingham Phoenix and selected for a base price of £100,000 (US$133,000).

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