“Call Me”: Lalit Modi Mocks Sunrisers After Abrar Ahmed Signing Sparks Backlash

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The decision by Sunrisers Hyderabad's ownership group to sign Pakistan spinner Abrar Ahmed at The Hundred auction has quickly escalated into one of the most talked-about controversies in franchise cricket this year - and it has now drawn a sharp, public reaction from Lalit Modi.

At the centre of the storm is the Sunrisers' £190,000 (approx. ₹2.34 crore) bid for Abrar Ahmed during the London auction. While overseas leagues like The Hundred operate independently of the IPL's restrictions, the move has triggered backlash among sections of Indian fans, largely due to the long-standing absence of Pakistani players from the Indian Premier League since 2008.

That reaction spilled over onto social media, where the Sunrisers Leeds account - the franchise's Hundred team - was briefly suspended amid the uproar. The episode underlined just how sensitive cross-border cricketing decisions remain, even when they occur outside the IPL ecosystem.

Amid the backlash, Modi weighed in with a pointed message aimed at Kavya Maran, who oversees the Sunrisers cricketing portfolio across leagues. Posting on X, Modi wrote: "Investing ₹2.34 crore on a Pakistani player when the fans are already on edge? I know a thing or two about managing optics and building empires. Call me."

The comment, while not naming individuals directly, was widely interpreted as a critique of both the decision-making and its public relations fallout. Modi, who played a foundational role in building the IPL into a global product, framed the issue less as a cricketing call and more as a failure in "optics" - a reminder that franchise sport today operates as much in perception as performance.

The controversy also highlights a broader contradiction in modern cricket. While leagues like The Hundred, SA20, and others are increasingly global and commercially driven, Indian franchises carry a unique burden of domestic sentiment. Moves that may be routine in one league can become politically and emotionally charged in another.

For Sunrisers, the signing itself remains valid within the rules of The Hundred. But the reaction it has generated - from fan backlash to Modi's intervention - shows how decisions made in one ecosystem can ripple across others, especially when they intersect with India-Pakistan cricket dynamics.

Whether this episode forces franchises to rethink their global strategies remains to be seen. For now, it serves as a reminder that in modern cricket, the biggest battles aren't always on the pitch - sometimes, they play out in perception, politics, and public response.