Sunrisers Leeds’ X Account Suspended After Abrar Ahmed Signing Sparks Online Backlash
Sunrisers Leeds, the cricket franchise owned by Sun TV and Kavya Maran, faced massive online backlash after signing Pakistani leg-spinner Abrar Ahmed in The Hundred 2026 auction. Just hours after the announcement, the team’s official X (formerly Twitter) account was suspended, leaving fans and followers unable to access it.
Abrar Ahmed Makes History
Abrar Ahmed became the first Pakistani cricketer to join an Indian-owned franchise in The Hundred when Sunrisers Leeds purchased him for £190,000 (around ₹2.34 crore). The signing, however, ignited widespread anger among Indian fans, many of whom criticized the IPL-linked team for bringing a Pakistani player amid ongoing political tensions between the two countries.
The controversy quickly escalated online, with social media users heavily trolling the franchise and Kavya Maran. The hashtag “Boycott Sunrisers Hyderabad” even trended on X, calling for protests in the IPL.
X Account Suspended
Within hours of Abrar’s signing being announced, Sunrisers Leeds’ official X account was suspended. Users attempting to visit the page were greeted with the message:
“Account suspended. X suspends accounts that violate the X rules.”
While X has not provided an official reason for the suspension, it is widely believed that the move came after a flood of reports and backlash from angry users reacting to the signing of Abrar Ahmed.
Other Pakistani Players in The Hundred
Abrar Ahmed was the second Pakistani player sold in the men’s auction. The first, mystery spinner Usman Tariq, was purchased by Birmingham Phoenix for £140,000 (around ₹1.72 crore), a team with no IPL affiliation.
Several high-profile Pakistani players went unsold, including pacer Haris Rauf, all-rounder Saim Ayub, and spinner Shadab Khan. Star left-arm pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi had already withdrawn from the auction. In the women’s auction, Fatima Sana and Sadia Iqbal, the only Pakistani entrants, also remained unsold.
Sun Group’s Big Investment
Sun TV and Kavya Maran had acquired full ownership of Northern Superchargers in The Hundred last year for £100 million (around ₹1,100 crore), rebranding the team as Sunrisers Leeds. The franchise also owns Sunrisers Eastern Cape in SA20, which has never signed a Pakistani player.
The Hundred 2026 season is set to start on July 21, with the final scheduled for August 16.
Other Notable Auction Buys
- England all-rounder James Coles went for £390,000 (around ₹4.8 crore) to London Spirit.
- Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman was sold to Birmingham Phoenix for £100,000 (around ₹1.23 crore), after being released earlier by KKR on BCCI orders.
The signing of Abrar Ahmed and the subsequent suspension of Sunrisers Leeds’ X account highlight the intense scrutiny and passionate fan response that cricket franchises face in politically sensitive contexts.
