The Hundred 2026 Auction: 63 Registered Pakistani Players Likely To Get Shadow Ban -

February 21, 2026

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The Hundred 2026 Auction: 63 Registered Pakistani Players Likely To Get Shadow Ban

The Pakistan cricket team is playing in the T20 World Cup 2026. Right now, the team is in Sri Lanka. They want to win the big tournament. The final match will take place on March 8. Every player on the team wants to win the trophy on that day. However, their minds are also on another big event. This second big event is The Hundred 2026 auction. Almost every member of the Pakistan cricket team has put their name on the list for this auction.

The Hundred 2026 auction is a very big deal for cricket players all over the world. It will take place in London. The date for the auction is March 12. Therefore, just four days after the T20 World Cup final, these players will wait to see if a team buys them. Many players from Pakistan want to play in The Hundred. But there are some reports that say they might not get picked. Let us look closely at all the details about the auction, the money, the teams, and the players from Pakistan.

What are the Rules and the Money for the Auction?

First, we must understand how the auction works. The Hundred is a cricket tournament with a set of rules for making a team. Each men’s franchise in The Hundred needs to make a complete squad. A squad is the group of players who play for the team. According to the rules, each franchise must buy between 16 and 18 players. They cannot have less than 16 players. Also, they cannot have more than 18 players.

To buy these players, each franchise gets a purse. A purse is the total amount of money they are allowed to spend at the auction. For The Hundred 2026, the purse is GBP 2.05 million. In Indian Rupees, this is about INR 25.11 crore. This means a team must look at the prices of all the players and plan carefully. They have to spend their GBP 2.05 million to get 16 to 18 good players. If they spend too much money on one player, they will have less money for the rest of the team. Therefore, teams try to find players who are good but also fit inside their budget.

The Shortlist of Players

Many players want to play in this tournament. Because of this, the list of players for the auction is very long. In total, 711 players are on the shortlist. This is a very large number of players. Out of these 711 players, 63 players are from Pakistan. These 63 players include both international players and domestic players. International players are the ones who play for the national Pakistan team. Domestic players are the ones who play in local cricket matches in Pakistan.

Some of the biggest names from Pakistan are on this list. For example, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Afridi, Saim Ayub, and Usman Tariq have all registered. These players are very famous in cricket. They have played many matches and they want to show their skills in The Hundred. However, just because they are on the list does not mean a team will buy them. Out of 711 players, only a small number will get a team. The 63 players from Pakistan have to compete with many other players from different countries to get a spot in the 16 to 18 player squads.

The Big Question: Will the IPL-Linked Teams Buy Them?

This is where the story gets very interesting. A recent report from the BBC shared some big news. The BBC report suggested that some specific teams will not bid for any Pakistani cricketers. Bid means to offer money to buy a player at the auction. The teams that the BBC report talked about are linked to the Indian Premier League (IPL).

There are four IPL-linked franchises in The Hundred. The teams are:

MI London (linked to Reliance Industries)
Manchester Super Giants (linked to RPSG Group)
Southern Brave (linked to GMR Group)
Sunrisers Leeds (linked to Sun TV)

According to the BBC report, these four teams have decided they will not buy players from Pakistan.

Furthermore, these IPL-linked franchises have done the exact same thing in other cricket leagues around the world. For instance, there is a cricket league in South Africa called the SA20. The SA20 started in the year 2023. Since it started, no Pakistani cricketer has ever played in the SA20. Every team in the SA20 is linked to the IPL. Similarly, there is another league called the ILT20. In the ILT20, there is only one franchise that hires Pakistani players. The other IPL-linked teams in the ILT20 do not hire them. Therefore, looking at the SA20 and the ILT20, many people think the BBC report about The Hundred 2026 auction is true.

A Different View from Cricbuzz

However, there is another report that says something different. A new report by Cricbuzz challenges what the BBC said. The Cricbuzz report says that there is no hidden ban on Pakistani players. According to this report, a couple of franchises have a “non-committal” stance. Non-committal means they have not made a strict rule against buying anyone. They just want to wait and see what happens at the auction.

These teams say they will try to buy any player who makes their team stronger. They do not care about the nationality of the player. If a player from Pakistan is good and fits their budget, they might buy him.

There are four other franchises in The Hundred that are not linked to the IPL. These teams are:

Birmingham Phoenix
London Spirit
Trent Rockets
Welsh Fire

Because these four teams are not linked to the IPL, people think they are the most likely to bid for Pakistani cricketers. They might look at the 63 players from Pakistan and choose the ones they need. But, because of the trend we saw in the SA20 and ILT20, it will not be a surprise if the other four IPL-linked teams stay completely clear of the Pakistani cricketers.

Prices of the Pakistani Players

When players put their names in the auction, they set a base price. A base price is the lowest amount of money a team can pay to buy them. The top players from Pakistan have set their base prices in three different categories. Let us break down these prices to understand how much money they want.

Category 1: GBP 100,000 (INR 1.22 crore) This is the highest category. It takes a big part out of the GBP 2.05 million purse. Six top players from Pakistan are in this top price group. If a team wants to buy any of them, they must start by paying at least GBP 100,000. The players in this group are:

Shaheen Afridi
Saim Ayub
Shadab Khan
Haris Rauf
Muhammad Nawaz
Naseem Shah

Category 2: GBP 75,000 (INR 92 lakh) This is lower than the top category, but it is still a large amount of money. Teams that need good players but want to save a little money might look at this group. Four players from Pakistan have listed themselves at this price. The players in this group are:

Abrar Ahmed
Mohammad Amir
Zaman Khan
Usman Tariq

Category 3: GBP 50,000 (INR 61.30 lakh) This is the lowest category among the top named Pakistani players. Because their price is lower, these players might be easier for teams to buy. Teams can fit them into their GBP 2.05 million purse more easily while still building a squad of 16 to 18 players. Six players are in this group. The players in this group are: