Former England captain Michael Vaughan urged the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to put its foot down and ensure Pakistan players are picked up by the Indian owners for the upcoming edition of the Hundred. His comment comes amid reports that the Indian owners may not pick up players from Pakistan. On Thursday, a BBC report claimed that Pakistan players’ participation in the Hundred would be limited to teams without any Indian involvement. It is worth noting that the franchises owned by Indians in the ILT20 and SA20 have chosen not to pick Pakistan players, and the same stance is expected to repeat in the Hundred.
On Friday, 63 Pakistani players, including Salman Ali Agha, Usman Tariq and Shaheen Shah Afridi, signed up for the Hundred auction; however, it remains to be seen whether the Indian owners pick them up.
There are four teams in the Hundred with Indian owners: MI London, Manchester Super Giants, Southern Brave, and SunRisers Leeds. The Indian ownership came into effect in October last year.
In his column for the Telegraph, Vaughan urged the ECB to show the world that they have ownership of their flagship tournament and won’t be dictated to by outside forces.
“The Hundred was set up to be an inclusive competition designed to appeal to a different audience, which is why the England and Wales Cricket Board has to act quickly if reports are true that new Indian owners will not select Pakistani players,” Vaughan wrote.
“I am a huge fan of the Hundred, but it has to appeal to all supporters for it to have any credibility. This has the potential to turn away the large Pakistan population that lives in England and loves cricket. What message does that send about our game? If true, it makes a mockery of the stated aim of Richard Thompson, the ECB chairman, to make English cricket the most inclusive sport in the country,” he added.
‘If India can play Pakistan…’
The Pakistan players have not been picked by IPL teams since 2009, and there is no chance of that changing in the near future, given the strained relations between the two countries. The players of the two teams have not even been shaking hands as part of customary post-match greetings, which is proof enough that relations have continued to strain with each passing day.
Vaughan opined that if India and Pakistan can play matches against each other in the ICC events, then surely the Indian owners can pick up Pakistani players for their teams in the Hundred.
“If no Pakistan players are signed by the Indian-owned franchises, then we have our answer. I would then like to hear a proper explanation from a senior ECB figure. We need to know if the owners indicated to the ECB they would not consider Pakistan players. Fundamentally, if India can play Pakistan in a World Cup match, then surely Indian owners can pick Pakistan players in a foreign league. I can understand it is too sensitive in the IPL, but this has exported the problem to other countries,” Vaughan wrote.
“You also wonder what precedent this could set. The ECB runs the Hundred but if this informal ban on Pakistan players happens then we know who really runs the competition and it is not the governing body. If they are not signed for political reasons we cannot allow that to happen in the UK because it will eventually affect our own players with Pakistani heritage. It will also damage Pakistan cricket as well, and we cannot be a part of that,” he concluded.
