London, Mar 14 (PTI): Top Pakistan cricketers such as Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub and Shadab Khan found no bidders in the Hundred Draft where 50 players from the country had signed up.

Pakistan were represented by 45 male cricketers and five female players in the draft.

Naseem and Shadab were in the top category price bracket of GBP 120000 while Ayub placed himself in the GBP 78500 segment.

Among the women players, Aliya Riaz, Fatima Sana, Yusra Amir, Iram Javed, and Jaweria Rauf did not find any takers.

The Indian Premier League owners buying stakes in the Hundred teams could be cited as a reason behind this.

Currently, four IPL franchises have stakes in the Hundred teams — Mumbai Indians in Oval Invincibles, Lucknow Super Giants in Manchester Originals, Sunrisers Hyderabad in Northern Superchargers and Delhi Capitals in Southern Brave.

Besides them, Sanjay Govil, an Indian-American entrepreneur has bought a 50% stake in Welsh Fire, while Cricket Investor Holdings Limited, a consortium of Silicon Valley tech entrepreneurs, have purchased a 49% stake in London Spirit.

But apart from that, the modest form of Pakistan cricketers in white ball formats too might have played a part in them not attracting any Hundred bid.

Last year, players like Naseem and Shaheen Shah Afridi also had to deal with NOC related issues with Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), which eventually curtailed their presence in the Hundred.

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Mumbai (PTI): The rupee depreciated 27 paise to 90.95 against the US dollar in early trade on Friday, weighed down by a strong American currency and higher crude oil prices due to the escalated geopolitical tension.

A selling rush in domestic equities further pressured the Indian currency, forex traders said.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 90.94 and slipped further to trade at 90.95 against the greenback in early deals, losing 27 paise from its previous closing level.

The rupee rose 4 paise to settle at 90.68 against the US dollar on Wednesday. The currency exchange markets were closed on Thursday on account of Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Jayanti.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.04 per cent higher at 97.89.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading 0.14 per cent higher at USD 71.77 per barrel in futures trade.

Analysts attributed the strengthening dollar and crude prices to heightened tension between the US and Iran, with both countries signalling they are prepared for war if talks on Tehran's nuclear programme fizzle out.

On the domestic equity market front, Sensex fell 150.35 points to 82,347.79 in early trade while the Nifty declined 35.15 points to 25,419.20.

On Thursday, foreign institutional investors offloaded equities worth Rs 880.49 crore, according to exchange data.