England limited-overs captain Harry Brooke said it would be “a shame” if Pakistani players were left out of this year’s hundred.
Sources told BBC Sport that the four Indian franchises are not considering Pakistani players for the auction to be held on March 11-12.
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Yorkshire batsman Brooke has been signed by Indian side Sunrisers Leeds (formerly known as Northern Superchargers) and will become the highest-paid player in the tournament after receiving a transfer fee of £465,000.
He served as captain of the Superchargers for the past two seasons, but revealed he won’t be doing so this year.
“My main focus at the moment is playing in the T20 World Cup,” the 26-year-old said a day ahead of England’s Super 8s clash against Sri Lanka.
“That part of the Centurion is above me and whatever they decide to do is up to them.
“Pakistan has been a great cricketing nation over the years with some great players, some of the best players in the world.
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“It would be a shame not to see some of them in The 100.”
63 male players and 4 female players from Pakistan have signed up to participate in the 100-person auction.
In messages seen by the BBC, a senior England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) official told an agent that interest in Pakistani players would be limited to teams not affiliated with the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Four of the eight teams – Manchester Supergiants, MI London, Souths Braves and Leeds Sunrisers – are now at least partly owned by the companies that control the IPL teams.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan said on Friday the ECB “needs to act quickly” because “this should not be allowed to happen”.
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Players from Pakistan have not featured in the IPL since 2009 due to diplomatic tensions between Pakistan and India, and a refusal to sign a top-100 player would follow a trend elsewhere in the franchise world.
South Africa’s SA20 was launched in 2023 but without Pakistani players. All six teams in the tournament belong to the IPL franchise group, including the four teams now involved in The Hundred.
In the ILT20 in the United Arab Emirates, the owner-controlled teams of MI London and Southern Brave did not sign a single Pakistani player in four seasons but recruited cricketers from 15 other countries.
In comparison, US-owned ILT20 side Desert Vipers signed eight Pakistani players during the same period.
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Brooke, who faces another busy schedule as a multi-format England player this summer, said he has told Sunrisers he will not continue as captain.
“I’m going to stay away from those things and will let the head coach and whoever is in charge control it,” he said.
Responding to the original BBC report, an ECB spokesman said: “The Centenaire welcomes men’s and women’s players from all over the world and we hope the eight teams will reflect this.
“Nearly 1,000 cricketers from 18 countries have signed up to take part in the 100-man auction, with more than 50 cricketers from Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Pakistan and the West Indies.”
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Birmingham Phoenix, London Spirit, Trent Rockets and Wales Flames are the four teams that are not part of the IPL.
