The X (formerly Twitter) account of Hundred franchise Sunrisers Leeds has been suspended.
Sunrisers Leeds sign Pakistan's Abrar Ahmed
The first-ever player auction in the men's Hundred took place on March 12, ahead of the 2026 season. One of the biggest talking points of the day was the signing of Pakistan spinner Abrar Ahmed for £190,000 by IPL team-owned Sunrisers Leeds.
Ahead of the auction, there were fears of a shadow-ban on Pakistani cricketers after IPL owners secured stakes in four of the eight Hundred franchises, and the BBC reported communication between an ECB official and the agent of a Pakistani player indicating that interest in his client would be restricted to teams not linked to IPL owners.
No active Pakistan international has played in the IPL since its inaugural season in 2008, and no Pakistani has featured in the SA20, where all six teams are sister franchises of IPL teams.
Following the BBC report, the ECB and Hundred franchises made a joint statement reaffirming their commitment to "ensuring there is no place for discrimination." "All eight teams commit to selection being based solely on cricketing performance, availability, and the needs of each team," the statement added. One more Pakistani player secured a deal at the auction; Usman Tariq joined Birmingham Phoenix, a non-IPL owned team, for £140,000.
Sunrisers Leeds X account suspended
Abrar's signing was met with outrage from sections of fans online, with many calling for the boycott of Sunrisers Hyderabad, Leeds' sister franchise in the IPL. The argument advanced was not solely about his nationality, but also that Abrar's social media activity in the past has involved the mocking of Indian army personnel amid tensions between the two countries.
Less than 12 hours after the franchise won the bid for Abrar, their account on the social media platform X was suspended: "X suspends accounts which violate the X Rules," the message reads.
X's website outlines that accounts may be suspended for reasons of safety, privacy, authenticity or third-party advertising in video content. At this point, it is not clear which of these is the reason for the suspension of the account.
As of Friday morning (March 13), the Facebook and Instagram accounts of Sunrisers Leeds are active. The X accounts of Sunrisers Hyderabad and Sunrisers Eastern Cape also remain active for now.
The platform has, however, had issues with the suspension of legitimate accounts over the last day or so. But even three hours after X's head of product Nikita Bier said "99% of suspensions were reverted", the Sunrisers Leeds account is not back up.
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