Delhi: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has given central contracts to a total of 25 male players for the 2024-25 international cricket season. This contract came into effect from July 1, 2024. In this, former Pakistan captain Babar Azam and wicketkeeper batsman Mohammad Rizwan, both the players, were kept apart in the central contract.
These three big changes can happen in international cricket, will teams like South Africa-New Zealand benefit?
Giving information, the Pakistan Board said that this central contract has been presented on the same lines as was agreed between the players and the board last year for a period of three years.
Babar-Rizwan kept aside, five new players also joined
The central contracts issued by the PCB were divided into a total of ‘four’ categories, which include ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’ and ‘D’. Only Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan were kept in the highest ‘A’ category. Apart from this, five newly added players were made part of ‘D’ category. The new players include Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Irfan Khan and Usman Khan.
At the same time, star players like Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah and Test captain Shan Masood were kept in ‘B’ category. Apart from this, some star players were seen in ‘C’ category. See, list and category of players with central contract
‘A’ Category (2 players) – Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan.
‘B’ Category (3 players) – Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Shan Masood.
‘C’ Category (9 players) – Abdullah Shafiq, Abrar Ahmed, Haris Rauf, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Sajid Khan, Salman Ali Aga, Saud Shakeel and Shadab Khan.
D Category (11 players) – Aamir Jamal, Hasibullah, Kamran Ghulam, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Huraira, Mohammad Irfan Khan, Mohammad Wasim Jr. and Usman Khan.