File image of Abrar Ahmed© AFP
IPL 2026 is set to get underway on Saturday, with defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru taking on Sunrisers Hyderabad in the season opener at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium. Ahead of the tournament, the Sunrisers group found itself embroiled in controversy after franchise owner Kavya Maran signed Pakistan spinner Abrar Ahmed for The Hundred. At the auction for the UK-based league, Maran-who also co-owns Sunrisers Leeds-secured Abrar for 190,000 pounds (approximately Rs 2.34 crore), triggering widespread backlash on social media.
Several Indian fans took to X (formerly Twitter) to criticise Maran and the Sunrisers group for including a Pakistani player in one of their teams.
With the IPL season about to begin, Sunrisers Hyderabad-who boast a massive fan base-have come under increased scrutiny. Recently, former India cricketer Anjum Chopra spoke to NDTV about the online backlash faced by Maran and whether it could impact SRH’s performance in IPL 2026.
“If you are talking about players like Ishan Kishan or Abhishek Sharma, they won’t be affected by what is happening on social media. They are extremely focused on their game and are here only to perform. It is understandable that a team’s environment can be impacted if the owner is facing a tough time, but at the end of the day, a player’s job is to perform,” Anjum told NDTV.
“Abrar Ahmed is not coming to India. Whatever happens will take place in the UK league, so we should not be concerned about a tournament being held overseas. As far as controversies are concerned, everything becomes a big topic these days because of social media,” he added.
Meanwhile, Sunrisers Hyderabad will be without regular captain Pat Cummins for at least the initial phase of IPL 2026 due to injury, with Ishan Kishan named as the stand-in captain.
After their opening game against RCB, SRH will be taking on Kolkata Knight Riders for their next match on April 2 at the Eden Gardens.