LONDON – Pakistan skipper Babar Azam has been named among the top 11 most expensive players in the draft for this year’s The Hundred cricket tournament to be held in the United Kingdom.
The players’ draft will be held on Monday with over 500 players, including 253 international cricketers in line for 28 available slots in eight teams. Among them, 36 are from Pakistan.
Babar is among the most expensive players with a base price of £100,000. Other players in the same bracket include Shakin Al Hasan, Quinton de Kock, Lockie Ferguson, Jason Holder, Tamim Iqbal, Kieorn Pollard, Nicholas Pooran, Kagiso Rabada, and David Warner.
Former Pakistan captain, Shahid Afridi, has also registered himself for the draft. He is named in the second most expensive category, with a base price of £80,000.
Other Pakistani players set to enter the draft include Mohammad Hafeez, Wahab Riaz, and Shadab Khan, all with a base price of £60,000, while Hasan Ali has a base price of £48,000. Waqas Maqsood, Hussain Talat, Imad Wasim, and Fakhar Zaman will enter the draft at the base price of £40,000.
Mohammad Amir and Shaheen Afridi will not be in the draft as they have already been retained by their teams. Amir will represent London Spirit, and Shaheen will feature for Birmingham Phoenix.
The Hundred, the ECB’s new 100-ball competition, will finally launch in July 2021 after its inaugural season was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
As revealed by ESPNcricinfo, the draft will be staged virtually and behind closed doors, rather than in a live studio setting, with picks due to be announced on Tuesday, February 23, the day after the draft itself.
