Talks about the next version of the Hundred have now reached the T20 World Cup. Over the past couple of days, several reports have been circulating claiming that the four teams in the competition, which have some sort of Indian investment, will not select any players from Pakistan, and the status quo will remain just like the Indian Premier League (IPL), UAE ILT20 and South Africa’s A20. Pakistani players have not been selected in the IPL since 2009, while no teams owned by IPL franchises have selected Pakistani players in the ILT20 or SA20 in the last few years.
63 Pakistani players have already signed up for the Hundred auction, scheduled for March 2026, but no one knows if the Indian owners will be willing to include them in the auction.
On Saturday, England captain Harry Brook was asked to comment on the raging controversy, saying that it would be a shame if no Pakistani player could make his presence felt in the upcoming edition of the tournament, which will be held under the supervision of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).
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“Our main focus now is what comes in the T20 World Cup. Honestly, it’s not really our business, but what I would say is that Pakistan has been a great cricketing nation for many years. I think there are about 50 or 60 players in the auction and it would be a shame not to see some of them there,” Brook told reporters on Saturday ahead of the T20 Super 8s World Cup match against Sri Lanka in Pallekele.
“There are some great cricketers there, and they bring in some great fans as well. So it would be a shame not to see some Pakistani players there and make the tournament and competition even better,” he added.
There are four teams in the 100 with some form of Indian investment: MI London, Manchester Super Giants, Southern Brave and SunRisers Leeds. According to a BBC report, players’ agents have been informed that the participation of Pakistani players will be limited to teams that do not have Indian investments.
When is the 100th auction?
The auction for the next edition of Hundred is scheduled to take place on March 11 and 12. Pakistani players like Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Usman Tariq have all signed up for the auction.
Earlier, former England captain Michael Vaughan urged the ECB to intervene and not dictate terms by the Indian owners. He also said that the ECB cannot become a party to attempts to isolate Pakistani players.
Shaheen and Shadab Khan had participated in the previous edition of the tournament, but since the Indian investment came into effect on October 1, 2025, no one knows what the future holds for them in terms of participating in the competition.
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