PCB announces men's central contracts for fiscal year 2021-22

As per the Governing Board’s approval on the budget of the fiscal year 2201-22, PCB has announced the central contract list 2021-22 which comprises Pakistan’s 20 elite cricketers. It has to be noted that three emerging cricketers have also been included in this list and the match fee across several formats has been equalized by PCB.

The prestigious list was finalized by several officials along with Pakistan skipper Babar Azam, who was involved in the process. Director of international cricket, Zakir Khan, Chief selector Muhammad Wasim, and High-Performance Director Nadeem Khan were present in the meeting. The provisional list was shared by Chief Executive Wasim Khan before it went to PCB Chairman Ehsan Mani for the final nod.

We remain committed to improving the value of contracts every year reckons Wasim Khan

“The equalization 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,” said Wasim Khan as quoted by Cricket Pakistan.

“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,” he added.

Category wise placement of players by PCB

The contracts are valid from July 01 2021 to June 30, 2022. Hasan Ali and Mohammad Rizwan got promoted to the A category while Imran Butt, Shahnawaz Dahani, and Usman Qadir have been included in the Emerging category list.

Category-A players are Babar Azam, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Rizwan, and Shaheen Shah Afridi. They are expected to receive around 1.2 Crore per year. Category-B comprises Azhar Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zamar, Fawad Alam, Shadab Khan. They will receive around 65 Lakh per year. On the other Category-C players are Abid Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Nawaz, Nauman Ali, and Sarfaraz Ahmed. They are expected to receive around 50 Lakh per year.