India, March 14 -- SunRisers Leeds, owned by Chennai-based media conglomerate Sun Group, that also owns Indian Premier League (IPL) team SunRisers Hyderabad, is facing backlash after signing Pakistani spinner Abrar Ahmed for £190,000 ( approx. Rs.2.34 crore). It happened during the men's player auction for the English Cricket League (ECL), The Hundred on Thursday. Abrar became the first Pakistani player picked by an Indian-owned franchise in the league. The move drew criticism online, with several fans targeting owner Kavya Maran, who was present at the event, for going against national sentiment. The franchise, earlier known as Northern Superchargers, was acquired last year by Sun TV, which bought a 49% stake from the England and Wales Cricket Board and the remaining 51% from Yorkshire County Cricket Club. The League will run from July 21 to August 16. Hours after the franchise signed Abrar Ahmed, SunRisers Leeds' official X account was suspended. While the platform has not given a specific reason, users attempting to access the account see a message stating: "Account suspended." X typically suspends accounts that violate its rules. SunRisers Leeds head coach Daniel Vettori avoided commenting on India-Pakistan relations but clarified that the team management never discussed avoiding Pakistani players during the auction. "It was just a matter of who was the best option," Vettori said. He added that after missing out on England spinner Adil Rashid, the franchise prioritised an overseas spinner. "Rishad Hussain, Usman Tariq, and Abrar Ahmed were all guys that were on our radar," he added. HTC...