The Hundred is a one-of-a-kind tournament played by eight city-based teams. Unperturbed by criticism from traditional cricket lovers/pundits and normal fans still struggling to understand the myriads of terms used in cricket and looking nowhere near ready to bear the onus of sinking in the complexity of another format, the tournament will turn four years old come July. The draft for the fourth season has already taken place where teams have picked players more flamboyant than the graphics used for the event. The 2024 Hundred Drafts followed a registration phase where several players entered their names to be part of the contest.
Many big names from Pakistan also submitted their names for the tournament. However, only five Pakistan cricketers will be playing the hundred-ball championship this season.
Which Pakistan players were picked and retained?
It’s not the first time that players from Pakistan will be participating in this tournament which is hailed as the brainchild of the England Cricket Board. Usama Mir, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Zaman Khan, Imad Wasim, and Haris Rauf were a part of the 100-ball event in the last season as well. 64 Pakistan cricketers, including 59 men and five women, threw in their hats for the 2024 Hundred Draft, with Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi, and Mohammad Rizwan getting themselves nominated just a day before the draft was scheduled to take place.
However, only Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, and Imad Wasim made the cut this time, while Haris Rauf and Usama Mir were retained ahead of the draft by their respective teams. Naseem was picked by Birmingham Phoenix in the tourney’s highest reserve price bracket; £125,000. On the other hand, Imad Wasim and Shaheen Shah Afridi were roped in for £100,000 each by their previous franchises, Welsh Fire and Trent Rockets respectively. It is interesting to note that the Pakistan pace duo, Shaheen and Haris, will be playing for the same team, Welsh Fire, this season as well.
Shockingly, players including Mohammad Rizwan, Babar Azam, Iftikhar Ahmed, and Shadab Khan went unsold this year. This means no specialist batter from the cricket-mad country will be featuring in this season of the newly-born format championship.
Pakistan women cricketers went unsold at the 2024 Hundred Draft
The Hundred competitions for both men and women run simultaneously. Hence, the draft for women was staged yesterday as well. In the women’s category, Nida Dar, Iram Javed, and Fatima Sana were the only ones from Pakistan to register themselves for a reserve price. The trio set the base price of £17,500 each for themselves. Apart from that, Aliya Riaz and Javeria Rauf also submitted their names without a specified price. However, none of the Pakistan women made it to the final teams as they went unsold throughout the draft.
Interesting to Read: All you need to know about the Women’s Premier League
When will the tournament be played?
The tournament will run from the 23rd of July until the final on the 18th of August at the Lord’s. The title defenders Oval Invincibles will face Birmingham Phoenix in the season opener at the former’s home ground, the Oval.
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