IPL franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad and its owner, Kavya Maran, have found themselves in the midst of significant controversy after buying Pakistan all-rounder, Abrar Ahmed, for Sunrisers Leeds in The Hundred 2026 Auction. For those wondering, The Hundred is England’s franchise-based T20 competition, and some of its teams operate as sister franchises of Indian Premier League sides. Pakistani players are banned from competing in the IPL and there were reports that Indian-owned franchises in The Hundred could opt against going for Pakistanis in its auction as well, but that didn't exactly turned out to be the case.
Social Media Reacts To Sunrisers Buying Abrar Ahmed
The Sunrisers franchise and Kavya Maran received quite a bit of flak for buying Abrar Ahmed at The Hundred 2026 Auction. Here are some of the reactions:
As of this writing, the official X account of Sunrisers Leeds has also been suspended.
Reason For The Outrage Over Abrar's Signing
Abrar Ahmed has previously drawn criticism for certain social media posts that appeared to be mocking the Indian armed forces.
One of the most widely discussed instances occurred during Operation Sindoor, a military operation launched by India in response to the terrorist attack in Pahalgam in early 2025.
Given this backdrop, his signing, particularly by a franchise owned by an Indian entity, has not gone down well with fans on social media.