The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Thursday announced list of central contracts for the 2019-20 season during which the men's cricket team will play six World Test Championship Tests, three ODIs and nine T20Is. The list has been trimmed from 33 to 19 and the players who have been awarded central contracts are: Category A - Babar Azam, Sarfaraz Ahmed and Yasir Shah; Category B - Asad Shafiq, Azhar Ali, Haris Sohail, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Abbas, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Wahab Riaz; Category C- Abid Ali, Hasan Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Rizwan, Shan Masood and Usman Shinwari.
While finalising the list of central contracts, which will run from 1st August 2019 to 30th June 2020, players' performances and fitness in the past 12 months and the formats they are likely to represent Pakistan in the upcoming season was taken into consideration, a PCB spokesman, said. All-rounders Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik have not been awarded contracts "but they will remain available for selection." Shoaib Malik had announced his retirement from one-day international cricket.
The PCB has "increased the financial value" for each category. Players have been classified into three "I want to congratulate all those who have been offered central contracts for the next season," PCB Managing Director Wasim Khan said, adding: "We have significantly increased the financial value of the 2019-20 retainers across each category.
This is over and above what had been agreed in the current agreement, which is due to run until 2021. The PCB has set high standards and targets in its strategic plan for the upcoming season. We want to attach a high value to receiving a central contract. We have complete faith and confidence that these players will set-up and produce on-field performances that will help us collectively achieve our objectives and targets."
AFP adds: Malik, 37, had already quit one-day internationals after a poor World Cup in which he scored only eight runs in three matches with two ducks. At 38, Hafeez also has little chance of regaining the chance to play for Pakistan, while Amir, who retired from Tests last month to focus on limited-overs cricket, is demoted from an A-category contract to a C. Skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed, batsman Babar Azam and spinner Yasir Shah were retained in category A and will get 1.1 million rupees (6,870 US dollars) a month over the next year.
Senior batsman Asad Shafiq, Azhar Ali, Haris Sohail, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Abbas, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Wahab Riaz are in B category, which pays 750,000 rupees. The C contracts are worth 550,000 rupees a month.