No Pakistani Players Picked in The Hundred 2025 Draft, IPL Franchises effect? Full Explanation

The highly anticipated The Hundred 2025 draft took place on Wednesday, 12th March, where interestingly no Pakistani player got picked by any of the eight franchises. 45 players had registered for the men’s draft and five for women’s, but not a single player got a deal. 

Did IPL Franchise Investments Cause Pakistan Players to Be Left Out of The Hundred 2025?

Notably, four out of the eight The Hundred franchises have been invested in by IPL owners. With political tensions between India and Pakistan, the Pakistani players are banned from participating in IPL, and both countries only play ICC events with each other. 

All the teams in SA20, the South Africa T20 league, are also co-owned by IPL franchises like Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings, Rajasthan Royals, Lucknow Super Giants, Delhi Capitals, and Sunrisers Hyderabad. Not a single Pakistani player has been selected for SA20 till now. 

Recently, Mumbai Indians, Lucknow Super Giants, Sunrisers Hyderabad, and Delhi Capitals have bought stakes in the four The Hundred teams, including Oval Invincibles, London Spirit, Northern Superchargers, and Southern Brave, respectively.

There might be a chance that IPL investments in The Hundred could be the reason why no Pakistani player was picked in the draft, as there may be an official or unofficial ban on Pakistani players. However, earlier, ECB Chief Executive Richard Gould assured that there will be no effect of Indian investments on Pakistani players participating in The Hundred.

Pakistan’s Schedule Clashes with The Hundred 2025

However, there might be another reason for Pakistani players not getting any deals in the draft: their busy international schedule, which is clashing with The Hundred 2025. According to the ICC’s Future Tours Programme (FTP) for 2023-27, Pakistan will play ODI and T20I series in the last week of July to mid-August against West Indies. After that, Pakistan will play a home T20I series against Afghanistan.