The Hundred: Harbhajan Singh enters player draft as the lone Indian cricketer

Veteran Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh is the only Indian player to enter the draft for the inaugural season of The Hundred. England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) are set to start the latest format of the game next summer with eight city-based teams participating in it.  The draft already features some of the biggest names in world cricket and Harbhajan Singh has also followed suit.

The off-spinner, who last played for India during the 2016 Asia Cup, has put his base price at £100,000. He is one of the 25 overseas players on the list with a base price of £100,000 (US$124,000) or more. The players’ draft will take place on October 20 in London. It will be interesting to see how BCCI reacts to the news.

The Indian cricket board does not allow the active Indian players to participate in overseas T20 leagues. Former India players Yuvraj Singh and Manpreet Singh Gony played in the Global T20 Canada but had to announce their retirement before taking the NOC. The BCCI is unlikely to give Harbhajan the go-ahead if he continues to play in IPL as he does at the moment.

Harbhajan yet to ask BCCI

According to ESPN Cricinfo, Harbhajan Singh is very much interested in playing The Hundred. However, he has not discussed about it with the BCCI. The Punjab stalwart will approach the board only if he is picked in the draft. The report claimed that Harbhajan would likely retire if he gets a team in the draft later this month.

Harbhajan is one of the most experienced bowlers in the world right now. Having helped India win the T20 World Cup in 2007 and 50-over World Cup four years later, he has 417 Test wickets to his name. In ODIs, he has picked up 260 wickets. He also boasts a good record in IPL and has won three titles with Mumbai Indians and one with Chennai Super Kings.

Meanwhile, yesterday, ECB released all the team names, logos, local players, men and women cricketers for the tournament. The rest of the squads will now be decided at the first-ever player draft in English cricket.

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