Why Kavya Maran is Getting Trolled on Social Media?

The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 is all set to begin on March 28, between Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Bengaluru. However, SRH Owner Kavya Maran, who is also the owner of Sunrisers Leeds in The Hundred, is facing brutal backlash on social media after the end of the auction.

The Hundred auction took place today, March 12, where the franchises bid for the players. As it started, the speculations started to grow whether the IPL franchise owners will buy any Pakistani player or not. It surprisingly turned out to be true.

Why Kavya Maran is Getting Trolled on Social Media?

SRH owner Kavya Maran plays an active part in the auction table and other match-related stuff throughout various T20 leagues. She owns many teams in some of the biggest cricket leagues in the world. However, Kavya Maran the hundred auction presence has left the fans furious due to her actions.

Maran's team, Sunrisers Leeds, went on to bid for Pakistan's ace spinner Abrar Ahmed in The Hundred auction. The reason behind Maran getting trolled is the player's approach towards India and the cricketers. Abrar has often found to be trolling the Indian army in his various posts.

During the Pahalgam attack in April 2025, he mocked Indian Army where he was sipping tea and referring to the brave Indian soldier Abhinandan. Hence, the outrage against the player and the franchise owner erupted on social media.

The franchise signed Abrar Ahmed for £190,000 which amounts to around Rs 2.34 crore. Sunrisers Leeds auction has left its fan base quite furious and the social media is flooded with its boycott trolls. It remains to be seen how the Sunrisers handle these trolls and what effect it creates on their upcoming IPL team.

Pakistani Players in IPL-Backed Franchises

As we all know that the political relationship between India and Pakistan are not good which has put a major impact on their sports relations as well, majorly in Cricket. There was a time when Pakistani players used to feature in the Indian Premier League (IPL) but its just history now.

Meanwhile, it was recently reported that the Pakistani players will be avoided by the IPL-backed franchises during the inaugural auction of The Hundred due to the “shadow ban”. However, Abrar Ahmed has managed to get a place in Sunrisers Leeds.
There was another Pakistani star who was sold during the auction, but not to any IPL-backed franchise. We’re talking about Usman Tariq, the off-spinner with a controversial bowling action, who is one of the best T20 bowlers at the moment. He was bought by Birmingham Phoenix to become only the second Pakistani to be sold in the auction. There were some big names like Haris Rauf and Shadab Khan, who remained unsold.