"The head coach, Dan Vettori, insisted it was strictly a cricket decision. There wasn't a discussion, it was just about who was the best option for us. We missed out on Adil Rashid, so then the priority was to get a spin bowler, and we didn't think that quality was in the local market so we had to look overseas."
"Ahmed is a controversial figure among the Indian online cricket community because he once posted a selfie with the caption Having the last cup of FANTASTIC evening TEA before Ramadan begins. The post was widely interpreted to be a reference to a meme about Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, an Indian fighter pilot who was shot down and captured during a dogfight in Jammu and Kashmir in 2019."
Abrar Ahmed made history as the first Pakistani player signed by an Indian-owned Hundred franchise when Sunrisers Leeds purchased him for 190,000 pounds. The signing provided relief to the ECB following recent denials of shadow bans on Pakistani players by Indian-owned teams. Ahmed, ranked third globally in men's international T20 bowling, was acquired after a competitive bidding war with Trent Rockets. Head coach Dan Vettori emphasized the decision was purely cricket-based, prioritizing a quality spin bowler after missing out on Adil Rashid. However, the signing triggered significant backlash from Indian online cricket communities, stemming from Ahmed's previous social media post interpreted as referencing a controversial meme about an Indian fighter pilot.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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