The Hundred 2024: Here's why big names like Babar Azam, David Warner went unsold

The highly anticipated draft for The Hundred 2024 saw some of the sport's biggest names, including former Pakistan captain Babar Azam and Australia's opener David Warner, go unsold.

During a panel discussion, which included English cricketers Nasser Hussain and Charles Dagnall, insights were offered into the reasons behind these surprising omissions. The conversation also shed light on other notable players who were not selected, such as Daryl Mitchell, Sunil Narine, and Tim David.

A viewer named 'Ehsha' during the discussion asked the panelist, "Someone explain paying £125,000 for Tom Kohler-Cadmore and not spending £125,000 for Babar Azam or David Warner?"

"Well, interestingly, I have wrote down a lot of teams' needs that what I thought and this is only my opinion and I reckon a lot of those sides have picked for needs. You look at some of the players that haven't been selected, and it's easy, I reckon, Nasser Hussain, to suggest that you look at the names in big bright lights and you think, well, I've got to get them because they're great players available, Teams haven't necessarily done that," former first-class cricketer Dagnall replied.

"You look at players who haven't been selected. Tim David wasn't selected, Babar Azam, Mujeeb, David Warner didn't go. So it's interesting about the selections. One of the things about the Pakistan players and David Warner as well, is availability is something that sides look at a lot, and whether they're going to be available for the entirety of the season, and that might have had a leaning towards some of them," Dagnall added.

It is worth noting that on Wednesday, only three Pakistan players managed to secure contracts in this year's draft, with Naseem Shah leading the pack by joining Birmingham Phoenix for an impressive £125,000. Shaheen Afridi and Imad Wasim were also picked up by Welsh Fire and Trent Rockets, respectively, for £100,000 each.

Meanwhile, Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan's exclusion came as a surprise, especially given their late entries into the player list for selection. 

The fourth edition of The Hundred is poised to commence on July 23, 2024, with Oval Invincibles defending their title against Birmingham Phoenix in the opener.