The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced the much-awaited central contarcts for the men’s team, promoting fast bowler Hassan Ali and wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan to category A following their stellar performances in the recent series.
The PCB released the details of the contracts after the Governing Board’s approval of the 2021-22 fiscal year’s budget. The 12-month contracts will run from July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022.
“It is an enhanced and performance-based central contract list 2021-22 for 20 elite male cricketers, including three emerging cricketers, in which match fee across all formats has been equalized,” the statement said.
The list was finalised by the panel that comprised Director – International Cricket, Zakir Khan, chief selector Muhammad Wasim and Director – High Performance, Nadeem Khan, who also consulted Head Coach Misbah-ul-Haq and captain Babar Azam as part of the process.
The provisional list was then shared with PCB Chief Executive Officer Wasim Khan, before it was approved by PCB Chairman Ehsan Mani.
According to details, the PCB has demoted former Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed to Category C while Mohammad Hafeez has been ignored once again.
Category A – Babar Azam, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Rizwan and Shaheen Shah Afridi
Category B – Azhar Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Fawad Alam, Shadab Khan and Yasir Shah
Category C – Abid Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Nawaz, Nauman Ali and Sarfaraz Ahmed
Emerging Category – Imran Butt, Shahnawaz Dahani and Usman Qadir
In the central contract list 2021-22, Hassan Ali and Mohammad Rizwan have been offered Category A contracts. Hassan Ali had missed out on the contract last year due to an injury but following his stellar performance in the 2020-21 as well as looking ahead to the 2021-22 season, he has been placed in Category A.
Rizwan has been rewarded for his consistent performance across all formats, with the PCB offering him the Category A contract.
