Revealed: What snub of Pakistani gamers by Indian Hundred house owners means for Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali amid fears over their choice – as English cricket chiefs reply

Players from Pakistan face limited opportunities in this year’s Hundred with those with Indian owners expected to snub them.

Registrations for the Hundred auction closed on Thursday, with the total entries of almost 1,000 including more than 50 Pakistanis.

However, four of the eight franchises – Manchester Super Giants, MI London, Southern Brave and Sunrisers Leeds – are linked financially to the Indian Premier League, a competition that has not featured players from Pakistan since 2009 due to tensions between the two Asian nations.

This has spread to various other Twenty20 tournaments around the world, with a Professional Cricketers’ Association spokesperson saying: ‘We’re aware of the political situation and we follow the trends in franchise competitions around the world.’

A more accurate picture of the Hundred’s attitudes towards Pakistan players will emerge next week as the new rules for 2026 state that each of the eight teams ‘must submit between 75 and 100 player nominations to the ECB,’ by 4pm on 26 February.

Anyone nominated will then be a part of the competition’s long list for the auction, with those not appearing ruled out.

Fears English players with Pakistani heritage, like Adil Rashid, will be overlooked by Hundred franchises with Indian owners have been dismissed as having a ‘0% chance’ of it happening

Fears that English players with Pakistani heritage like World Cup winners Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali will also be overlooked have been dismissed, with one leading agent telling Daily Mail Sport that there was ‘0% chance,’ of it happening.

Another Saqib Mahmood, who is on standby for England’s Twenty20 World Cup squad, was recently signed by Pretoria Capitals – part of the Delhi Capitals family – at the SA20, South Africa’s franchise league.

However, Rehan Ahmed is the only such English cricketer to be tied down to a Hundred team pre-auction, snapped up by Birmingham Phoenix, who have American investors including NFL legend Tom Brady.

Last year, ECB chief executive Richard Gould was adamant Pakistan players would not be excluded on grounds of nationality, saying: ‘I expect players from all nations to be selected for all teams.’

Adding: ‘We have got very clear anti-discrimination policies within cricket in England. If those are not adhered to, our cricket regulator will take action.’

Daily Mail Sport contacted the regulator on Thursday for comment.

Imad Wasim and Mohammad Amir were the only Pakistani players to feature in last year’s Hundred, while Shaheen Shah Afridi withdrew from a contract with Welsh Fire for the 2024 competition citing a desire to spend more time with his family.

Saqib Mahmood was recently signed by Pretoria Capitals – part of the Delhi Capitals family – at the SA20, South Africa’s franchise league

Of their current internationals, Sahibzada Farhan, the leading run scorer in the group stages of the T20 World Cup, his opening partner Saim Ayub and mystery spinner Usman Tariq could expect to spark interest.

Pakistan’s Test players are unlikely to be available due to a series in the Caribbean that clashes with the ECB’s 100-ball-a-side tournament.

An ECB spokesperson said: ‘The Hundred welcomes men’s and women’s players from all over the world and we would expect the eight teams to reflect that in The Hundred auction.

‘Almost 1,000 cricketers from 18 nations have registered for The Hundred auction, with representation of over 50 players respectively from Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Pakistan and West Indies.”