The Hundred started in the year 2021 as the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) launched their own franchise-based competition. Initially, ECB only had the T20 Blast tournament, wherein the counties competed in the shortest format of the game. But the board introduced a new competition in 2020 named The Hundred, featuring both men’s and women’s clubs.
The inaugural season of the tournament was scheduled to happen in 2020, but because of the COVID-19 pandemic, it started in the year 2021 only. It was a big success in the United Kingdom as both men’s and women’s matches received massive viewership.
While the subcontinental audience may not have watched the matches much, former England cricket team captain Nasser Hussain has offered a suggestion to make the Hundred even better and attract the Asian audience to the unique tournament as well.
In a column for Sky Sports, Nasser Hussain wrote that he wants to see Pakistan’s trio of Mohammad Rizwan, Babar Azam and Shaheen Shah Afridi in the competition. Fans should note that a few players from Pakistan participated in the first season, but not all star players participated.
“I think their white-ball cricket has gone through the roof so people like Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, get them over as the interest among the British Asian community is growing,” wrote Hussain.
The Hundred 2022 will take place later this year in the United Kingdom
The 2022 edition of the men’s and women’s Hundred tournaments are scheduled to happen later this year in the UK. Like the first season, there will be eight teams, namely the Northern Superchargers, Southern Brave, Welsh Fire, London Spirit, Birmingham Phoenix, Manchester Originals, Oval Invincibles and Trent Rockets, will participate this year.
It will be interesting to see if the trio of Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mohammad Rizwan make themselves available for this unique tournament.
