Central contract 2021-22: PCB promotes Hassan Ali, Mohammad Rizwan to category A; Sarfaraz Ahmed demoted

• Babar Azam, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Rizwan and Shaheen Shah Afridi have been offered Category A.
• Imran Butt, Shahnawaz Dahani and Usman Qadir are placed in Emerging Category.
• PCB CEO says the door remains open for the players ignored in central contract list 2021-22 and they will continue to remain in the plans of the selectors.

LAHORE: 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.

Important changes

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.

Likewise, Faheem Ashraf, Fawad Alam, Mohammad Nawaz and Nauman Ali have also been offered central contracts in recognition of their contributions and performances in the 2020-21 season.

Haris Rauf and Mohammad Hasnain, who were in the Emerging Category last year, have been promoted to Category C, while youngsters Imran Butt, Shahnawaz Dahani and Usman Qadir have been placed in Emerging Category.

Players missing out on the central contracts include Asad Shafiq, Haider Ali, Haris Sohail, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Abbas, Naseem Shah, Shan Masood and Usman Shinwari.

However, they remain firmly in the selectors’ plan for the season ahead and have the opportunity to earn contracts for the 2022-23 season, subject to performances during the 2021-22 season.

Upward revisions in pay scale

The PCB also revised the renumeration packages of theplayers after which players in top category will get a 25% raise, however, there’s no increase in match fee for Test, ODI and T20I.

Moreover, the players in B category will also get a 25% raise. Test match fee has been increased by 15%, ODI match fee increased by 20% and T20I match fee increased by 25%.

Besides a 25% raise, the cricketers in C category will get a 34% increase in Test match fee, 50% increase in ODI, and 67% increase in T20I.

However, players in the Emerging Category got a 15% raise with 34% increase in Test match fee, 50% increase in ODI and 67% increase in T20I.

‘Challenging task’

PCB Chief Executive Wasim Khan said selecting 20 players amongst a big pool of quality cricketers is always a challenging task and thanked the panel for their diligent work.

“In the new list, we have seen eight new players emerge who have now gained central contracts. Due to the competitive nature of the central contract system, nine players who had contracts in 2020-21 have sadly missed out on this occasion.”

Khan said that the door remains firmly open for these players and they will continue to remain in the plans of the selectors.

“Emerging Category recognises and rewards the up and coming talent. We have seen the emergence of Haris Rauf and Mohammad Hasnain move from an Emerging Category to Category C, and the likes of Imran Butt, Shahnawaz Dahani and Usman Qadir breaking into the Emerging Category. The Emerging Category remains a platform for young players to break into the central contract system.

“The equalisation of match fees means that all players who walk out together to represent Pakistan will receive the same match fees irrespective of which category they are in, or whether they have a central contract or not.

“Despite the challenging economic climate, we as the Pakistan Cricket Board believe that it is important to continue to show advancement in the value of central contracts. In the last two years, we have seen significant progress in central contract payments and we will remain committed to the principle of improving the value of contracts year-on-year.”