‘I’ll spend the whole budget on Babar Azam’: James Anderson after Pakan skipper went unsold in The Hundred draft

England great James Anderson is surprised that Pakan skipper Babar Azam went unsold in this year’s The Hundred draft.
While speaking in BBC’s Tailender Podcast, Anderson said that he would have spent the “entire budget” to make sure that Babar Azam was in his side.
“I’ll pay double for him [Babar Azam]. I’ll spend the whole budget on Babar Azam,” he said.

Jimmy Anderson and the @TailendersPod are baffled as to why #BabarAzam was not picked in the @thehundred draft pic.twitter.com/uKPZU5wSER
— Faraz Qasim (@farazqasim) March 30, 2023
“The only thing I can guess is that there might have been an availability issue, which is why he wasn’t picked.”
Babar, who entered the draft with a reserve price of £100,000, didn’t find any takers in the draft.
In last year’s draft as well, Babar was not picked as the tournament clashed with Pakan’s international commitments. Babar was led at the reserve price of £125,000.

Alongside Babar, his compatriot Mohammad Rizwan were also unsuccessful in finding teams.
Welsh Fire roped in Pakan’s fast bowling duo of Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf.