Moeen Ali has responded to reports that IPL owners in The Hundred may not sign Pakistan players at the upcoming auction.
Moeen joins a growing list of former and current England players to speak out against the reported shadow-ban on Pakistan cricketers in The Hundred. It was reported by BBC Sport last week that leaked WhatsApp messages indicated that Pakistani players would not be considered by IPL-owned franchises in the auction. Despite this, 67 Pakistani players signed up to the auction long-list which was published at the end of last week.
“In the UK, I’m not sure that can happen – and I hope it doesn’t happen,” Moeen told The Telegraph. “It just shouldn’t happen, hopefully it won’t happen. We just have to wait and see if it does, but I think it’d be a massive shame, and I’m sure the ECB will definitely keep an eye out.”
“There’ll be a group of players that will speak up,” he added. “There’ll be things done about it. I think players should speak up. Anyone that has any sort of concern for these kind of things – it doesn’t matter if they have Pakistani heritage – should speak up.”
Also Read: Harry Brook: Would be a shame to not see Pakistan players in the Hundred
The IPL hasn’t featured Pakistani players after its inaugural 2008 season following the Mumbai terror attack on November 26 of that year. Moreover, no Pakistan player has played in the SA20, where all six teams have Indian owners, across four seasons.
“Obviously, the news is very new,” Moeen added. “So I’ve not really had a chance to speak to anyone, but most of the players would be on the same page. It’d be really interesting to see what happens, because I genuinely think other countries can do what they want, obviously we’re not in control of those things, but in the UK, we have a bit more say about these things.”
England white-ball captain Harry Brook has also voiced his concern over the prospect of Pakistani players being excluded from playing in The Hundred. Speaking ahead of England's first T20 World Cup Super Eights game, he said: "Pakistan have been a great cricket nation for many years and have some awesome players, some of the best players in the world. It would be a shame not to see some of them in The Hundred."
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