Moeen Ali builds pro-Pakistan lobby to fight IPL owners amid The Hundred controversy
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Former English cricketer Moeen Ali has been voicing in favour of Pakistan ever since the India-Pakistan controversy began. Moeen also decided to opt out of IPL and switch careers to PSL for the upcoming season. He has now urged the organisers to make sure that no injustice happens towards Pakistani players due to Indian owners taking over the teams in The Hundred.
Ever since the India-Pakistan rivalry has taken a bad turn, several cricketers around the world with roots tracing back to Pakistan have spoken openly, criticising India for allegedly influencing the presence of Pakistani players in various T20 leagues worldwide and more.
On several occasions, India's growing influence over global cricket has not been seen in good terms by the Pakistani players. The Pakistani media has also not kept away from accusing the ICC of favouring the BCCI over other boards. A claim that was formerly backed by the England all-rounder, Moeen Ali.
The Hundred teams that Indian owners have taken over
Last time in 2025, several of the Hundred's teams were taken over by Indian owners, who have been global investors in the sport. Going into this upcoming season, all eight of the franchises have been completely or partially sold to private owners. Among all investors, four are Indian, while four are American investments.
Having picked out some teams, the Indian owners have also asked for a change in names. The Oval Invincibles have been renamed as MI London, the Manchester Originals as the Manchester Super Giants and lastly the Northern Superchargers as the Sunrisers Leeds.
RPSG Group purchased 70% of Manchester Super Giants' stakes, which also owns teams like Durban Super Giants and Lucknow Super Giants in the SA20 and the IPL. The Sunrisers Hyderabad owners, the SUN Group, have invested 100 million pounds to buy the Superchargers team.
Lastly, the Reliance Industries-based Ambani family from India bought the 49% stake of the most successful Hundred franchise. They have other teams in the Mumbai Indians (MI), MI Emirates, MI Cape Town and MI New York in the IPL, ILT20, SA20 and the MLC, respectively.
Moeen Ali takes a stand against the non-selection of Pakistan players
After the influential Indian owners took over the teams in 'The Hundred,' Moeen Ali has also been troubled by the fact that they would not call for Pakistani players in the competition any further. Some Pakistani players like Mohammad Amir and Imad Wasim played in the previous editions.
However, this notion has been fueled by the fact that Pakistani players are banned from playing in the IPL. However, Moeen did not seem happy with the reports on the Hundred being affected by the political tension between India and Pakistan, and instead said that it would be a big shame for the ECB.
"In the UK, I'm not sure that can happen - and I hope it doesn't happen," Moeen Ali told Telegraph Sport.
"It just shouldn't happen, hopefully it won't happen. We just have to wait and see if it does, but I think it'd be a massive shame, and I'm sure the ECB will definitely keep an eye out," he added.
Moeen Ali predicts players will pressure Teams to backtrack
The former English all-rounder, who has represented England across all three formats of the game, feels that not only will the board have a say here, but also players will not accept such injustice.
"There'll be a group of players that will speak up," he added. "There'll be things done about it. I think players should speak up. Anyone that has any sort of concern for these kinds of things—it doesn't matter if they have Pakistani heritage—should speak up."
Moeen Ali continued further, predicting that they would stand up and speak against the incident if it occurred, and hence, the team owners would be left with not many options but to backtrack their decision.
"Obviously, the news is very new. So I've not really had a chance to speak to anyone, but most of the players would be on the same page. It'd be really interesting to see what happens, because I genuinely think other countries can do what they want; obviously, we're not in control of those things, but in the UK, we have a bit more say about these things," Moeen Ali concluded.
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India National Cricket Team England National Cricket Team The Hundred Pakistan National Cricket Team ECB BCCI Moeen Ali ICC T20 World CupAbout the Author
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