Ramiz Raja questions PCB’s central contract policy

• “I was looking at category B, where six out of nine players only play one format which is Test cricket; where we our ranked seventh in the world,” says Raja.

Former Pakistan captain Ramiz Raja has questioned Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)’s policy preferring Test cricketers in central contract for the season 2020-21.

The Board on Wednesday revealed the list of 18 players for the central contract, snubbing pacers Wahab Raiz, Mohammad Amir and Hasan Ali. Two new faces in shape of Naseem Shah and Iftikhar Ahmad were included in the contract.

While speaking on his YouTube channel, the former opener PCB’s policy while awarding contracts.

“I was looking at category B, where six out of nine players only play one format which is Test cricket; where we our ranked seventh in the world,” said Raja. “On the other hand, we have been one of the top-ranked sides in the world in T20 cricket but the central contracts do not give much incentive to the players who are involved in the shortest format of the game.”

Category B has batsmen Abid Ali, Asad Shafiq, Haris Sohail, Shan Masood, pacer Mohammad Abbas, wicketkeeper-batsmen Mohammad Rizwan and Sarfaraz Ahmed, and leg-spinners Shadab Khan and Yasir Shah.

https://www.brecorder.com/2020/05/13/596554/amir-wahab-miss-out-central-contracts-sarfaraz-demoted/

The 57-year-old also raised voice for first-class cricketers and asked the board to invest in domestic cricket to protect raw talent.

“In the lower tier such as first-class cricket, there should also be incentives for players because that is where the actual talent comes from,” he said. “Although they have given incentives to young players like Naseem Shah, Mohammad Hasnain and Haider Ali but I still feel more youngsters should be inducted in this list.”