Desk Report,
Two Pakistanis join Indian poet Maran’s team ‘at the last minute’
Last February, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) sold all the shares in The Hundred franchises. Indian billionaires, who also own four IPL franchises, bought four of the tournament’s eight franchises. People of Indian origin bought shares in two more franchises in this 100-ball league.
Two Pakistanis join Indian poet Maran’s team ‘at the last minute’
As a result, speculation began that since most of the ownership of The Hundred franchises had passed to Indians, Pakistanis might no longer be able to play in this tournament. Such speculations eventually came true. No franchise showed interest in Pakistanis in the 2025 draft of The Hundred. However, Kavya Maran came in at the last minute to surprise. His Northern Superchargers bought Pakistan’s left-arm pacer Mohammad Amir and left-arm spin all-rounder Imad Wasim. However, both Amir and Imad have retired from international cricket.
Northern Superchargers are owned by India’s Sun Group, which also owns IPL franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad. The CEO of both teams is Kavya Maran, daughter of Sun Group founder Kalanidhi Maran, who is in the news during the IPL. Currently, Northern Superchargers is the only franchise in The Hundred that is 100% owned by an industrial group. The fifth season of The Hundred begins tonight. Northern Superchargers confirmed the addition of Amir and Imad to the team last night. Amir, 33, will play instead of Australian pacer Ben Duershuis, while Imad, 36, has been taken in place of New Zealand spinner Mitchell Santner. Duershuis and Santner will both be busy playing for the national team. Santner will lead New Zealand in the second and final Test against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo from August 7 to 11. As a result, he will not be available for the Northern Superchargers’ two matches. And Cricket Australia (CA) has included Duershuis in the upcoming T20 and ODI series against South Africa at home. The Australians’ last match against the Proteas is on August 24. As a result, Duershuis is unlikely to play in The Hundred this season.
Duershuis was bought by the Northern Superchargers for 63 thousand pounds (1 crore 1 lakh taka) and Santner for 1 lakh 20 thousand pounds (1 crore 94 lakh taka). There was no information on how much money Amir and Imad, who replaced them, will get. The reason for not including any players from the Pakistan national team in this year’s The Hundred was initially cited as a busy international schedule. The Pakistan team is currently touring the West Indies. Afridi-Salman-Nawaz will then play a tri-nation T20 series with Afghanistan in the United Arab Emirates. With the Asia Cup ahead, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) did not want to release the players for The Hundred.
However, when the military conflict between India and Pakistan broke out last May due to the attack in Pahalgam, Kashmir, cricket relations between the two countries also hit rock bottom. So this was also considered as one of the reasons for not keeping Pakistani players in The Hundred. Kavya Maran’s team proved that idea wrong by buying two Pakistanis at the last minute. make
