While Hassan has returned to the annual list after missing out last year due to an injury, Rizwan has been promoted from Grade B to A after strong performances for the period running from July 1, 2021 till June 30, 2022.
Faheem Ashraf, Fawad Alam, Mohammad Nawaz and Nauman Ali are among the eight new faces handed the annual contracts. Their inclusion has meant the absence of Asad Shafiq, Haris Sohail, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Abbas, Naseem Shah, Shan Masood, Usman Shinwari, Haider Ali and Iftikhar Ahmed, all of whom had annual contracts last year.
However, PCB chairman Wasim Khan said in a media release that “the door remains firmly open for these players” and reiterated that they are still in selectors’ plans.
The PCB has announced a list of 20 players, which is one less than the 2020-21 year list. Interestingly, the board has also confirmed that all players will receive an “equalized match fee” across all forms of the game. This ensures all players who play for Pakistan will get the same match fee irrespective of their category in the annual contracts or whether they have an annual contract or not.
Notably, there has been a 25% increase in retainers from Group A to C and even the Emerging category has seen a 15% increase from the PCB.
“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.”
Wasim said.
