Shaheen, Haris, Salman among Pakistan players to register for 2026 Hundred auction

Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Saim Ayub, and Salman Agha are the prominent names amongst the 63 Pakistan players to register for the inaugural The Hundred auction, which is to be held in Piccadilly, London on March 11 (men's) and 12 (women's). The auction longlist comprises more than 950 players, including both domestic and international cricketers from all nations, except India.

Following the league’s privatisation, as many as four of the eight franchises – MI Oval (Reliance Industries), Manchester SuperGiants (RPSG Group), Southern Brave (GMR Group), SunRisers Leeds (Sun TV) – are either partly or fully owned by IPL ownership groups, while two other teams – London Spirit (owned by US-based tech investors) and Welsh Fire (US-based Sanjay Govil) – have an Indian connection.  In that backdrop, speculation has been rife that such teams will not bid for Pakistan players.

"Pakistan cricketers are not being considered by Indian-owned sides for next month's Hundred auction," the BBC reported.

Additionally, the number of Pakistan players selected will depend on their availability, as Pakistan is set to tour the West Indies for a Test series in August. Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan are the notable absentees from the auction list, though it is understood that their participation would be significantly impacted due to the aforementioned international commitment.

Only nine players from Pakistan have been part of the Hundred in its five seasons so far, with franchises often reluctant to sign them owing to their international commitments.

No active Pakistani international has been part of the IPL since 2008. Of the six teams with Indian connections, four have direct IPL ownership groups involved: Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals, Lucknow SuperGiants and SunRisers Hyderabad. Along with other Indian owners, these teams have refrained from signing Pakistani players in overseas leagues, from South Africa’s SA20 to the UAE’s ILT20. The Desert Vipers at the ILT20 is the only franchise to possess a Pakistani player in its squad.

Franchises run by Capitals co-owners and Southern Brave owners GMR Group have signed Pakistani players in the past: Imad Wasim, Zaman Khan (both Seattle Orcas) and Shan Masood (Hampshire). The other three franchises have not signed any active Pakistan player across all the leagues.

"The Hundred welcomes men's and women's players from all over the world, and we would expect the eight teams to reflect that. Almost 1,000 cricketers from 18 nations have registered for The Hundred auction, with representation on the longlist of over 50 players respectively from Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Pakistan and West Indies,” an ECB spokesperson was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

In addition to Shaheen, Haris, Saim and Salman, the other top Pakistan players in the auction spreadsheet include Shadab Khan, Muhammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah (all GBP 100,000 base price), Abrar Ahmed, Muhammad Amir, Zaman Khan, Usman Tariq (GBP 75,000), Faheem Ashraf, Shahibzada Farhan, Usama Mir, Imad Wasim, Abbas Afridi, Afaq Afridi and Asif Afridi (all GBP 50,000).

Finn Allen, Jonny Bairstow, Trent Boult, Quinton de Kock, Wanindu Hasaranga, Shimron Hetmyer, David Miller, Adil Rashid, Sherfane Rutherford, David Willey, Moeen Ali, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Alzarri Joseph, Angelo Mathews, Nandre Burger, Gerald Coetzee and Shoaib Bashir are the other prominent names to have registered for the auction.

The men’s teams will have to buy 16 to 18 players, while 15 players will form the women's squads. The overall salary pot for a season for the men’s team is GBP 2.05 million, while for the women's it is GBP 880,000.

The pre-auction deduction per team is: 350k (1 signing), GBP 650k (2 players), GBP 850k (3 players), GBP 950k (4 players) - all for the men's league. In the women's competition - GBP 130k (1 signing), GBP 240k (2 players), GBP 10k (3 players), GBP 360k (4 players).