ISLAMABAD: Country’s leading five cricketers who proved their versatility in all the three formats scooped up retainerships for both red and white ball cricket for the year 2022-2023.
Chief selector Muhammad Wasim announced Players Central Contracts at the Pindi Stadium Thursday revealing that Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, and Shaheen Shah Afridi will get A category for both red and white ball cricket while Hasan Ali (red-ball Category B, white-ball Category C) and Imamul Haq (red-ball Category C, white-ball Category B) are the other two picked for retainership in both formats.
“Yes, all these five players will get retainership (according to their categories) in both formats apart from the match fee and related privileges,” Wasim said.
The chief selector said that different factors were considered before awarding contracts, these included past performance, especially the one that won matches for the country.
“Fitness, focus and future utility of players was also considered while awarding contracts. These five players have been brilliant throughout the year. Wasim added that the contracts were offered for the whole year. “There will be no change in between the year.”
For the first time, the PCB has introduced separate red and white-ball contracts, while four more players have been added to the Emerging Category. This means a total of 33 players, 13 more than the previous season, have received contracts for the next 12 months.
Amongst the 10 players who have received red-ball contracts, Azhar Ali has been promoted to Category A, Abdullah Shafique, Naseem Shah have been placed in Category C for the first time along with Saud Shakeel, who has been awarded Category D.
Fawad Alam and Nauman Ali have been retained in Category B and C, respectively, whereas Abid Ali, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shan Masood and Yasir Shah have been handed Category D contracts. Eleven limited-over specialists have been awarded white-ball contracts.
Fakhar Zaman and Shadab Khan, who were in Category B in 2021-22, have been awarded Category A contracts, while Haris Rauf has been promoted to Category B. Mohammad Nawaz has been retained in Category C.
“Fakhar and Shadab have been outstanding in the white ball cricket, yet they were not part of the A category previously. Now they have been placed in the white ball A category. Haris Rauf has been promoted to B category in the same format while Nawaz retained his category C position,” Wasim said.
Shahnawaz Dahani and Usman Qadir have been promoted from Emerging to Category D where they are joined by first-timers Asif Ali, Haider Ali, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Wasim Jnr and Zahid Mehmood.
In the Emerging Category, the PCB has increased the number of players from three to seven. Players in the Emerging Category are: Ali Usman, Haseebullah, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Huraira, Qasim Akram and Salman Ali Agha.
“We have also expanded our category of emerging cricketers from three to seven as it is very important for us to groom those cricketers who have potential to make it to the top level and give an incentive to those players who have excelled in our domestic tournaments,” Wasim said.
The PCB for the first time has also introduced captaincy allowance.
Some of the salient features of the new central contracts are as follows: Cricketers will get 10 per cent increase in match fees across all formats; There has been an increase in match fee for non-playing members from 50 per cent to 70 per cent of the overall match fee; A separate amount will be given to current players with the aim to manage and reduce the workload of elite players and to ensure that they are fully fit, ready and fresh whenever they play for Pakistan. So they can concentrate fully and stay fit for national duties.
Red and white-ball contracts (5): Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Shaheen Shah Afridi (all Category A), Hasan Ali (red-ball Category B, white-ball Category C) and Imamul Haq (red-ball Category C, white-ball Category B)
Red ball contracts (10): Category A – Azhar Ali; Category B – Fawad Alam; Category C – Abdullah Shafique, Naseem Shah and Nauman Ali; Category D – Abid Ali, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Saud Shakeel, Shan Masood and Yasir Shah.
White-ball contracts (11): Category A – Fakhar Zaman and Shadab Khan; Category B – Haris Rauf; Category C – Mohammad Nawaz; Category D – Asif Ali, Haider Ali, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Shahnawaz Dahani, Usman Qadir and Zahid Mehmood.
Emerging contracts (7): Ali Usman (Southern Pb), Haseebullah (Balochistan), Kamran Ghulam (KP), Mohammad Haris (KP), Mohammad Huraira (Northern), Qasim Akram (Central Pb) and Salman Ali Agha (Southern Pb).