The Hundred 2026 auction has finally ended. It has been an exciting auction for the franchises. On Thursday, March 12, 2026, The Hundred (men’s competition) held its first player auction at Piccadilly Lights in central London. The cricket league, which began in 2021, used a draft system to appoint players to franchises for the first five editions.
There have been new investors in the league, with some of the Indian Premier League (IPL) owners owning some stake in the Hundred auction. The impact has been immediate, with three teams changing their previous names to IPL-style names.
The Hundred gets new owners
The Oval Invincibles are now known as MI London, Manchester Originals have become Manchester Super Giants, and Northern Superchargers are now Sunrisers Leeds. Only Southern Braves has not changed its name, as it is owned by GMR Group, which also owns Delhi Capitals in the IPL.
Once they secured the stake, there were reports of Pakistani players being banned from the auction. However, this did not happen; A total of 63 to 67 Pakistani players (including both men and women) were registered for the 2026 The Hundred draft/auction. However, only a select group of 14 Pakistani players were shortlisted for the final bidding process in the men’s auction.
Some players of Pakistan were shortlisted
There was only one Pakistani player who withdrew from the auction and that was Pakistan ODI team captain Shaheen Shah Afridi. However, the other players to be registered were Haris Rauf, Saeem Ayub, Abrar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Mohammad Aamir, Zaman Khan, Usama Mir, Imad Wasim, Akif Javed and Salman Mirza.
Of these, only two players were being sold in the auction. Usman Tariq and Abrar Ahmed are the two players sold in the auction. Tariq was the first player to be selected in the auction. He was bought by Birmingham Phoenix during the auction for £140,000.
Sunrisers Leads surprised everyone by selecting Abrar Ahmed
Abrar Ahmed was the second player to be picked up by Sunrisers Leeds in the auction at a price of £190,000, which attracted a lot of attention as Sunrisers Leeds was part of the Sun TV company, which also owns Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL.
Except two players, Haris Rauf was not sold in the auction. Apart from him, no other player from Pakistan was selected even in the later part of the auction. James Coles becomes the highest paid player in The Hundred. He was sold to London Spirit for the upcoming season of The Hundred for a price of £390K.
List of sold and unsold Pakistan players in Hundred Auction 2026
| player | Situation | Team | price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abrar Ahmed | sold | birmingham phoenix | £140,000 |
| Osman Tariq | sold | sunrisers leads | £190,000 |
| Haris Rauf | not for sale | — | — |
| Saim Ayyub | not for sale | — | — |
| Mohammad Nawaz | not for sale | — | — |
| Naseem Shah | not for sale | — | — |
| Mohammad Aamir | not for sale | — | — |
| zaman khan | not for sale | — | — |
| Usama Mir | not for sale | — | — |
| Imad Wasim | not for sale | — | — |
| Akif Javed | not for sale | — | — |
| salman mirza | not for sale | — | — |
Also read: Fans criticize Kavya Maran after Sunrisers Leads sign Pakistan spinner Abrar Ahmed in Hundred auction