The Pakistan Cricket Board on Friday announced its Men’s Central Contract List for 2021-22. The contract includes three different contracts and emerging cricketers. There is a 25% raise in the monthly income of the contract players and a uniform match fee has been fixed for all categories, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

Reportedly, the PCB announced an enhanced and performance-based central contract list 2021-22 for 20 elite men cricketers, including three emerging cricketers, in which match fee across all formats has been equalised.

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 Chief Executive Wasim Khan, before it was approved by PCB Chairman Mr Ehsan Mani.

The 12-month contracts will run from 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2022.

Men’s central contract list 2021-22 is (reduced from 21 to 20):

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

Upward revisions to the central contracts include:

25 per cent increase in Category A retainer; no increase in Test, ODI and T20I match fee

25 per cent increase in Category B retainer; Test match fee increased by 15 per cent, ODI match fee increased by 20 per cent and T20I match fee increased by 25 per cent

25 per cent increase in Category C retainer; 34 per cent increase in Test match fee, 50 per cent increase in ODI match fee, 67 per cent increase in T20I match fee

15 per cent increase in Emerging Category retainer; 34 per cent increase in Test match fee, 50 per cent increase in ODI match fee, 67 per cent increase in T20I match fee

In the central contract list 2021-22, Hasan Ali and Mohammad Rizwan have been offered Category A. Hasan 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 by moving him from Category B to Category A.

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.

Reporter Rozina Ali