LAHORE: Following the governing board's approval of the 2021-22 fiscal year's budget, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Friday 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 Ehsan Mani. The 12-month contracts will run from July 1, 2021 to June 30, 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
Imran Butt, Shahnawaz Dahani, and Usman Qadir have been offered Emerging Category contracts by PCB.
Upward revisions to the central contracts include a 25 percent increase in Category A retainer; no increase in Test, ODI, and T20I match fee. 25 percent increase in Category B retainer; Test match fee increased by 15 percent, ODI match fee increased by 20 percent, and T20I match fee increased by 25 percent. 25 percent increase in Category C retainer; 34 percent increase in Test match fee, 50 percent increase in ODI match fee, 67 percent increase in T20I match fee. 15 percent increase in Emerging Category retainer; 34 percent increase in Test match fee, 50 percent increase in ODI match fee, 67 percent 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 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.
PCB Chief Executive Wasim Khan said in a release, "Selecting 20 players amongst a big pool of quality cricketers is always a challenging task. I would like to thank the panel for their diligent work in selecting the 2021-22 central contract list against an agreed criteria. 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. The door remains firmly open for these players and they will continue to remain in the plans of the selectors."