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In a significant move to foster emerging talent, the PCB has granted central contracts to five players for the first time.
Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan (AFP)
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Sunday awarded its central contract to 25 players, effective from 1 July 2024. This initiative is part of a three-year contract framework established last year, designed to support and recognise the contributions of players to the sport.
In a significant move to foster emerging talent, the PCB has granted central contracts to five players for the first time. These promising cricketers – Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Ali, Muhammad Irfan Khan, and Usman Khan – have been classified in Category D, reflecting their potential and the PCB‘s commitment to nurturing new talent in the country.
List of centrally contracted players:
Category A (2): Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan.
Category B (3): Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Shan Masood.
Category C (9): Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Haris Rauf, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Sajid Khan, Salman Ali Agha, Saud Shakeel and Shadab Khan.
Category D (11): Aamir Jamal, Haseebullah, Kamran Ghulam, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Hurraira, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Mohammad Wasim Jnr and Usman Khan.
Squad for Australia tour announced
After being sidelined for the last two Tests against England, the trio of Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah returned to the Pakistan team for the upcoming white-ball series in Australia.
Many new faces have been brought into the squads, while senior players like Fakhar Zaman and Shadab Khan missed out on selection. Fakhar is facing an inquiry from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for tweeting in support of Babar before the selectors dropped him for the England Tests.
Babar, Shaheen and Naseem, all sidelined after the opening Test versus England, return for the Australian leg of the tour. However, they have been rested for the Zimbabwe tour. The Australia tour is slated to run from 4-18 November.
Meanwhile, the three-match ODI and T20I series in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe will be played from 24 November to 5 December.
New Captain to be Announced
The chairman of the PCB, Mohsin Naqvi, will announce the new captains for the limited-overs formats later this afternoon at a media conference. Wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan and Salman Ali Agha are expected to be named the new white-ball skippers.
