'Disgrace': Sunrisers Leeds face heat from Indian fans over Abrar's signing

LONDON: Sunrisers Leeds, one of the four The Hundred franchises linked with the Indian Premier League (IPL) investors, found themselves at the receiving end of social media trolling for signing Pakistan's mystery spinner Abrar Ahmed at the players' auction, underway here at the Piccadilly Lights on Thursday.

Abrar, who has represented Pakistan in 38 T20Is and was also a part of the former champions' squad for the recently concluded ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026, was slotted into the spinners' category with a base price of £75,000.

The 27-year-old received an encouraging response from the bidders as Sunrisers Leeds and Trent Rockets were involved in a bidding war until Kavya Maran's side acquired the services of the Pakistan international for a whopping £190,000, equivalent to Rs71.2 million.

Abrar's signing by an IPL-linked franchise marked a massive step towards the non-politicisation of the sport, promised by the tournament's organisers, all eight participating teams and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) ahead of the auction in response to a report by the BBC, suggesting that the Indian investors had imposed a shadow ban on the Pakistan players.

However, the signing did not sit well with Indian fans, who termed it "shameful" and a "disgrace" to the nation, asserting that it contradicts IPL's ban on Pakistan players, imposed since the cash-rich league's 2009 edition.

"This is a very wrong decision to buy Abrar Ahmed. She should feel ashamed [of] this decision. It seems she didn't even think once before doing it. For some people, money and players have become more important than the country. [Boycott] SRH," a cricket fan, bearing username @kamalsharmaa87, wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

An Indian fan, bearing the username @Nitika3012 on the microblogging website, slammed Sunrisers for not being able to find a spinner from "any other country" despite their humongous salary cap.

"1000 Crores for the team, and they couldn't find a spinner from any other country? Shame on you."

Another fan suggested that Indians should stop supporting the franchise, which he called "Pakistani-loving".

"Shame!! Shame!! Indian people should stop supporting this [Pakistani-loving] franchise," a cricket fan bearing the username @thekapilgoswami wrote on X.