A big controversy has arisen after the auction for the new season of The Hundred held in England. World number-1 T20 bowler Sadia Iqbal did not find any buyer in the auction of women players held on Wednesday. Along with him, Pakistan all-rounder Fatima Sana also remained unsold.
The base price of both players was 15,000 pounds, but no franchise bid on them. After this, the discussion intensified on social media and in the cricket world whether an untold distance is being created regarding Pakistani players in the league.
Questions raised after the arrival of IPL owners
This time, the stake of companies which also have IPL franchises has increased in many teams of The Hundred. For this reason, some people raised the question whether Pakistani players have not got a chance due to the influence of the owners associated with IPL.
However, the league organizer England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) had clearly said before the auction that the players will not be selected on the basis of their nationality. Despite this, after the results came out, debate on this issue has started.
Pakistani women players had not played before either
The interesting thing is that even in the previous seasons of The Hundred League, no Pakistani female player could play in this league. This means that even before the arrival of IPL owners, women cricketers of Pakistan did not get a chance in this league. Still, the fact that a top bowler like Sadia Iqbal remains unsold is surprising to many people, because at present she is considered the number-1 bowler in the T20 rankings.
Money rained on Indian players
While Pakistani players were disappointed, Indian women cricketers got excellent prices in the auction.
Richa Ghosh – Bought for 50,000 pounds.
Deepti Sharma – 27,000 pounds
Whereas veteran players like Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues had already been pre-signed or retained by the franchise. This season, there has been an increase in the salary of women players as compared to last year.
Now keep an eye on the men’s auction
After the women’s auction, now everyone’s eyes are on the auction of male players. Many big players of Pakistan are included in this draft, including names of players like Shahin Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah and Mohammad Aamir Aamir.
Now it will be interesting to see whether teams place bets on these Pakistani players in the men’s auction or they too get disappointed like the women players.
See also
Shahid Afridi crossed the limits of shamelessness regarding India vs Pakistan World Cup match, told the biggest lie
‘You can’t refuse me…’ Who forced Gautam Gambhir to become the head coach of Team India?
