PCB to Revise Centrally-Contracted Players’ List for 2023-24 Season

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is currently in the process of finalizing the central contracts for players for the upcoming 2023-24 season as the current contracts are set to expire on June 30. It has been reported that there may be a 20% increase in players’ salaries under the new contracts. The PCB management committee, led by Najam Sethi, will review a list of contracted players after discussions with captain Babar Azam. The announcement of the contracted players is expected to take place before the end of the tenure of the PCB management committee on June 21.

It is anticipated that Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, and Fakhar Zaman will retain their positions in Category A. Additionally, fast bowlers Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah are expected to receive promotions in their contracts, with Naseem Shah included in both the red and white ball categories.

Several other players, including Iftikhar Ahmed, Saim Ayub, Ihsanullah, Usama Mir, Mohammad Haris, and Zaman Khan, are said to have secured a place in the contract list. Former captain Sarfaraz Ahmed is also expected to retain his red-ball contract.

Chief Selector Haroon Rashid, along with Pakistan team’s director Mickey Arthur, head coach Grant Bradburn, and director of international cricket operations Usman Wahla, will discuss the player names before finalizing the list. Captain Babar’s input will also be taken into consideration during this process.

The PCB will continue the practice of awarding separate contracts for white-ball and red-ball cricket. The contracts will be categorized as A, B, and C, with separate emerging contracts for promising young players.

As part of the contract changes, veteran batsman Azhar Ali will be excluded from the centrally-contracted players list due to his retirement. Other players such as Fawad Alam, Haider Ali, Abid Ali, Yasir Shah, Nauman Ali, Khushdil Shah, Usman Qadir, and Zahid Mehmood are also likely to lose their central contracts.

The PCB is working diligently to finalize the new central contracts before the end of June, aiming to secure the players’ signatures on the updated deals.

Current PCB men’s central contracts list for 2022-23:

RED AND WHITE-BALL CONTRACTS:

Category A: Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Shaheen Shah Afridi
Category B (Red Ball): Hasan Ali
Category C (White Ball): Imam-ul-Haq

RED BALL CONTRACTS:

Category A: Azhar Ali
Category B: Fawad Alam
Category C: Abdullah Shafique, Naseem Shah, Nauman Ali
Category D: Abid Ali, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Saud Shakeel, Shan Masood, Yasir Shah

WHITE-BALL CONTRACTS:

Category A: Fakhar Zaman, Shadab Khan
Category B: Haris Rauf
Category C: Mohammad Nawaz
Category D: Asif Ali, Haider Ali, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Shahnawaz Dahani, Usman Qadir, Zahid Mehmood

EMERGING CONTRACTS:

Ali Usman (Southern Punjab), Haseebullah (Balochistan), Kamran Ghulam (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Mohammad Haris (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Mohammad Huraira (Northern), Qasim Akram (Central Punjab), Salman Ali Agha (Southern Punjab)