Mumbai, March 17 (IANS) Pakistan’s mystery spinner Abrar Ahmed is not losing sleep over the possible backlash, specifically comments from former Indian great Sunil Gavaskar, on his signing by an Indian-owned franchise, Sunrisers Leeds, in the auction for the upcoming edition of The Hundred, a news report said on Tuesday.

Abrar, ranked as high as number two in the ICC rankings until last month and now third, was signed by Sunrisers Leeds, which owns Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League, for 190k Pounds Sterling last week. The franchise owners are facing severe backlash in India over the signing, but Abrar is not worried by comments over the move, Telecom Asia Sport said in a report.

Gavaskar called the signing an indirect way to fund the Pakistan military, which, in turn, kills Indian soldiers.

While the Pakistan Cricket Board and Abrar are tight-lipped on the backlash, sources said there are no concerns as the matter is between England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and the franchise.

“The noise on Abrar’s signing is not unexpected, but he is not losing sleep over the uproar,” Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) sources told www.telecomasia.net.

“Abrar registered for The Hundred as he is ready to ply his trade in the leagues around the world and was signed as one of the top three bowlers in T20I rankings, which is well deserved,” the report said, quoting sources.

“The coach of Sunrisers Leeds, Daniel Vettori, conveyed the signing to Abrar and advised him to be in touch and prepared to give his best,” the sources said.

Vettori, himself a spinner of repute who played 442 internationals for New Zealand across formats, backed the signing.

“Once we missed out on Adil Rashid [to Southern Brave], who was a priority early on, then we obviously jumped into the overseas spinner. There were four or five guys that we were looking at, and Abrar was one of them. Very pleased to get him,” Daniel Vettori said after the conclusion of the auction.

Abrar’s signing comes after the ECB threatened that The Hundred sides could face disciplinary action if there is evidence that Pakistan players are overlooked in the auction based on nationality, the Telecom Asia Sport report said on Tuesday.

The warning followed after the BBC reported that the four Indian-owned teams – Manchester Super Giants, MI London, Southern Brave, and Sunrisers Leeds – will not consider Pakistan cricketers over a blanket ban on them due to strained relations between the two countries.

The relations between the two countries hit their lowest point after the terrorist attack in Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir in April last year.

New Delhi accused the attacks of having the backing of Islamabad, a claim Pakistan denied. A four-day military conflict followed, with both sides claiming victory.

Former Pakistan Under-19 skipper and a Yorkshire player based in Leeds, Azeem Rafiq, criticised Gavaskar for his unacceptable comments.

“This is absolutely ridiculous & should be condemned. How are these comments acceptable? I don’t care how many runs you have scored. Vile stuff from Gavaskar,” Rafiq wrote on social media platform X.

–IANS

bsk/