The Pakistan Cricket Board has finalised a list of 17 cricketers who will be considered for the next central contract and former captain Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal and Danish Kaneria are not to be considered.
A source in the PCB was quoted by PakPassion as saying that the final list was already forwarded to PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf. Eight players have been listed for the highest category (A), 10 players listed for the middle category (B) and nine were listed for the lower category (C).
High profile names such as the out-of-form Shoaib Malik and the out-of-favour Kamran Akmal are not included in the list of recommendations.
Current captain Misbah ul Haq is joined in the top category by senior bowlers Saeed Ajmal and Umar Gul, whilst the vastly improved Mohammad Hafeez and the evergreen Younus Khan are also included in the top band. Experienced campaigners Shahid Afridi and Abdul Razzaq are the remaining players expected to receive Category A contract, subject to Ashraf’s approval. Category B sees the remainder of the regular picks for Pakistan in Tests and in the shorter formats and includes familiar names such as Asad Shafiq, Umar Akmal, Taufeeq Umar etc. Category C includes players who the Board sees as on the fringe of selection and back ups to the current selections.
Pakistan players are given central contracts in three pay slabs. Players classed as Category A currently receive PKR 250,000 (USD $ 2,750) per month, while those in Category B are eligible for PKR 175,000 (USD $ 1,940) with Category C players earning PKR 100,000 (USD$ 1,100) per month. These payments are in addition to match fees, allowances, logo sponsorship share and bonuses paid to the players.
It’s expected that a pay increase to the basic monthly payments will also be recommended and approved by Zaka Ashraf, although specific amounts regarding the raise in basic salary are not yet known.
The criteria for Central Contracts in Pakistan is based largely on seniority, rather than performance and availability in all formats.
Full likely list of recommendations is as follows:-
Category A: Misbah ul Haq, Younus Khan, Umar Gul, Shahid Afridi, Muhammad Hafeez, Saeed Ajmal, Abdul Razzaq, Abdur Rehman.
Category B: Imran Farhat, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Akmal, Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq, Wahab Riaz, Taufeeq Umar, Adnan Akmal, Aizaz Cheema, Junaid Khan.
Category C: Muhammad Talha, Fawad Alam, Muhammad Ayub Dogar, Sarfraz Ahmed, Muhammad Khalil, Yasir Shah, Ali Imran Pasha, Afaq Rahim, Raza Hasan.
Both are eligible
I do believe guys like Usman Salahuddin and Haris Sohail should be included in category C.
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