PCB announce central contracts for 2015-16

PCB announce central contracts for 2015-16: Experienced all-rounder Shoaib Malik was on Saturday given a category ‘A’ contract by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), even as seasoned off-spinner Saeed Ajmal was demoted in the new list of central contracts announced for 27 players. Pakistan ODI captain Azhar Ali, Test captain Misbah-ul-Haq and T20I captain Shahid Afridi have been included in ‘A’ category. Meanwhile, Muhammad Hafeez, and Younis Khan have also been inducted in the same category as well.

While awarding the new contracts, it may seem that Ajmal, who has been dropped to category ‘B’, has been given a raw deal but in reality the off-spinner has been given a new lease of life after speculations that he might well will be dropped altogether from the contract list. The veteran spinner has struggled to make a mark since modifying his bowling action last year. The off-spinner was suspended from bowling due to an illegal action in September 2014 by the ICC.

The PCB also announced that the monthly retainers as well match fees had been increased across the board and the system of awarding win bonuses for matches and series restored.

“The players will also be given individual performance incentives. This bunch is a blend of seasoned players with proven credentials and emerging talent with potential to represent Pakistan across three formats,” the PCB said in a statement without elaborating the financial details.

The clauses of the central contracts will now remain unchanged for the next three years with a 10 percent increase in monthly retainers in all categories in 2016/17 and 2017/18 and a 10 percent increase in Test match fees and five percent in ODI fees in 2017. The central contracts selection panel comprises of national chief selector Haroon Rasheed, head coach Waqar Younis and Zakir Khan, the director of international cricket operations.

The contracts were finalised after detailed negotiations between the representatives of the players and board officials since July as the board had already decided to extend the old contracts centrals by six months this year due to the World Cup and other issues.

Here are the players list:

Category A (6): Azhar Ali, Mohammad Hafeez, Misbah-ul-Haq, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Younis Khan.

Category B (8): Ahmed Shehzad, Asad Shafiq, Junaid Khan, Rahat Ali, Saeed Ajmal, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Wahab Riaz, Yasir Shah.

Category C (8): Anwar Ali, Fawad Alam, Haris Sohail, Mohammad Imran, Mohammad Irfan, Mohammad Rizwan, Shaan Masood, Umar Akmal

Category‘D (5): Babar Azam, Sami Aslam, Sohaib Maqsood, Umar Amin, Zulfiqar Babar.