Pakistani cricketers to undergo major financial boost

The Pakistan Cricket Board has announced a new financial model whereby the centrally contracted national players are set to undergo a major increase in both their total earnings as well as individual match fees.

The three-year deal was struck after discussions with senior players Shoaib Malik and Sarfraz Ahmed. As per the new agreement, the 33 players involved in the central contract spectrum will see a rise of as much as 30% in their monthly salaries, alongside a 20% boost in the match fees across all categories.

Apart from the traditional A-D categories, a new "E" category has been inaugurated which the PCB's official release described as the "recognition of performers on the domestic circuit as well as to encourage the continuing development of emerging cricketers from the junior cricket level".

As far as individual players are concerned, the contracts see little to no change relative to the previous financial formula that concluded just recently. Babar Azam's contract was bolstered from Category B to Category A - where he joins five other Pakistani cricketers.

Players' contracts, explored

Mohammad Hafeez, who didn't feature in any of Pakistan's five ODIs in Zimbabwe, has been demoted to Category B - whereas the young-blood of Pakistani teams that have transformed the landscape of cricket in the country in recent years also find themselves in Category B at present.

Amongst the notable omissions is Ahmed Shehzad, who was recently found guilty of being involved in a doping offence. An official penalty for his actions is yet to be decided.

The financial plan was put forward by the Selection Committee, which includes Director of Cricket Ops Haroon Rasheed, National Chief Selector Inzamam-ul-Haq and Academy Director Mudassar Nazar.

The player list, by category, is as follows:

Category A: Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed, Babar Azam, Mohammad Amir, Azhar Ali and Yasir Shah

Category B: Muhammad Hafeez, Fakhar Zaman, Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali and Asad Shafiq

Category C: Muhammad Nawaz, Muhammad Abbas, Wahab Riaz, Usman Shinwari, Shan Masood, Haris Sohail, Imam ul Haq, Imad Wasim and Junaid Khan

Category D: Usman Salahuddin, Hussain Talat, Asif Ali, Rahat Ali and Rumman Raees

Category E: Umaid Asif, Mir Hamza, Shaheen Afridi, Sahibzada Farhan, Bilal Asif, Saad Ali and Muhammad Rizwan.

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