Sunrisers Leeds’ X Account Suspended After Signing Abrar Ahmed in The Hundred 2026 Auction

Sunrisers Leeds came under attention just hours after making a big signing at the The Hundred 2026 auction. The team’s official account on X was suspended soon after they bought Pakistan spinner Abrar Ahmed during the men’s auction in London. Abrar became the first Pakistani cricketer to be picked by an Indian-owned franchise in The Hundred.

Sunrisers, owned by the Sun Group, the same conglomerate that runs Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL, secured the leg-spinner for £190,000 (around USD 255,000) after beating Trent Rockets in a brief bidding contest. The move immediately triggered strong reactions online, particularly among Indian fans. Many criticised the franchise and its owner Kavya Maran for signing a Pakistani player, arguing that the decision ignored national sentiment.

Sunrisers Leeds’ X account suspended after Abrar Ahmed signing

Pakistani players were uncertain about how likely it was they would be selected as part of their teams prior to the auction having taken place due to reports that prior to the event teams owned by the Indian Premier League (IPL) owners may be wary of selecting anyone from Pakistan. A short while before the auction took place the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) declared that teams would only choose their players based on the players' ability to perform, their availability at any or all times for the future, and the current composition of their respective rosters; however, there was also a report published that suggested that a may have been implemented.

When England leg-spinner, Adil Rashid, was taken off the board too early during the draft by the Sunrisers Leeds franchise, they turned their attention to a foreign spin option - and Pakistan's Abrar Ahmed was their top choice. However, things turned sour quickly once that became public with some social media fallout; shortly after the signing was confirmed by Sunrisers Leeds' account on X (formerly Twitter), it was revealed that the account had been suspended.

Users that went to check out Sunrisers Leeds' account saw the following message: “Account suspended.” In addition to that, the suspension notice also included some verbiage about X suspending accounts that violate its rules. As of this writing, however, X has yet to publicly provide any justification for Sunriisers Leeds' account suspension.

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