The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) have announced their central contracts list for the 2024-25 season. 25 players have been offered a central contract as opposed to 27 last year. There as many as 12 new entrants this time around.
The central contracts of the players ended in June earlier this year. But the PCB took an additional four months to announce the new contracts which are valid till July 2025.
Babar Azam who dropped for the last two Test matches against England and the newly appointed white-ball captain Mohammad Rizwan are the only players to be in the top category (Category A). Shaheen Shah Afridi who was also in the same category last time has been demoted to Category B. The likes of Haris Rauf and Shadab Khan have also been dropped down a category from B to C.
Test captain Shan Masood is placed in Category B. However, his position in the contract is based on his stature as captain. There were reports that the left-hander may be sacked as Test skipper. Pakistan lost six Test matches in a row in his first six games as captain. But he has turned things around for the moment. He led Pakistan to a dramatic series win, beating England 2-1 to win their first Test series at home in more than three and a half years.
Sajid Khan and Noman Ali who were the stars of the series win against England have been handed contracts after the spin duo missed out last year. Noman’s contract is subject to fitness. Both spinners have been placed in Category C.
The likes of Aamir Jamal, Haseebullah, Kamran Ghulam, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Hurraira, Muhammad Irfan Khan, and Usman Khan are the ones who have been included newly in the contracts list this year.
Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman and Iftikhar Ahmed notable exclusions
Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman and Iftikhar Ahmed are the two notable exclusions from the contract list. It is the first time in eight years that Zaman is missing from the central contracts list. However, both Zaman and Imam have been omitted on the basis of fitness reasons.
“Fakhar [Zaman] has an ongoing knee problem for which he is undergoing rehabilitation at the NCA in Lahore. He failed two fitness tests recently and will now take another test at the end of November,” a PCB source was quoted saying to PTI.
Pakistan’s next international fixture is against Australia where they will play three ODIs and as many T20Is before flying to Zimbabwe for a set of six white-ball games.
CONTRACT LIST
Category A: Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan; Category B: Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood; Category C: Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Haris Rauf, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Sajid Khan, Salman Ali Agha, Saud Shakeel, Shadab Khan; Category D: Aamir Jamal, Haseebullah, Kamran Ghulam, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Hurraira, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Usman Khan.
