India, Feb. 26 -- The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and franchises of The Hundred have issued a joint statement to assert that players must not be excluded on grounds of nationality amid fears that Pakistani cricketers could be deliberately ignored by at least four Indian-owned teams at next month's auction.

Four out of the eight franchises - Manchester Super Giants (RPSG Group), MI London (Reliance), Southern Brave (GMR) and Sunrisers Leeds (Sun Group) - are linked to team owners in the IPL and according reports in the British media, all of them would avoid Pakistani players.

However, even without any Indian presence among the owners, only two Pakistan players were a part of The Hundred last year and overall just nine have mana...