Shoaib Akhtar surprised after Babar Azam goes unsold in The Hundred draft

Former Pakistan pacer, Shoaib Akhtar, is as surprised as James Anderson after Babar Azam went unsold in the 2023 The Hundred draft.

Babar, who entered the draft with a reserve price of £100,000, didn’t find any takers in the draft.

England bowling legend, James Anderson expressed his shock over the aforementioned development while speaking in BBC’s Tailenders podcast.

"I’d pay double for him [Babar Azam]. I’d spend the whole budget on Babar Azam. The only thing I can guess [for his absence] is that there might have been an availability issue. He might not be available for the whole Hundred," Anderson said.

Akhtar agrees with Anderson and echoed similar thoughts on his Twitter handle on Saturday.

"I agree with @jimmy9. I would have done the same. I really wonder why the best T20 player in the world went unsold at The Hundred," Akhtar wrote.

Shoaib Akhtar is as surprised as James Anderson after Babar Azam went unsold in the 2023 The Hundred draft#ShoaibAkhtar #BabarAzam𓃵 pic.twitter.com/GeZcNBa89m

— Cricket Pakistan (@cricketpakcompk) April 2, 2023

The Hundred is set to take place from August 1 to August 27 this year and will clash with Pakistan’s three-match ODI series against Afghanistan.