LAHORE: While all-rounder Hasan Ali was on Friday surprisingly given category ‘A’, former Pakistan captains Azhar Ali and Sarfaraz Ahmed were demoted to category ‘B’ plus a good number of promising players who were the find of the last couple of years failed to get any place, as the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced the 2021-22 central contracts for 20 cricketers.

“Following the Governing Board’s approval of the 2021-22 fiscal year’s budget, the PCB today [Friday] announced an enhanced and performance-based central contract list 2021-22 for 20 elite men cricketers, including three emerging cricketers, in which match fee across all formats has been equalised,” said a press release issued by the PCB on Friday.

“The list was finalised by the panel that comprised director international cricket Zakir Khan, chief selector Mohammad Wasim and director high performance Nadeem Khan, who also consulted head coach Misbah-ul-Haq and captain Babar Azam as part of the process. The provisional list was then shared with chief executive Wasim Khan, before it was approved by PCB chairman Mr Ehsan Mani.

“The 12-month contracts will run from July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022,” the release added.

“In the central contract list 2021-22, Hasan Ali and Mohammad Rizwan have been offered Category ‘A’. Hasan Ali had missed out on the contract last year due to an injury but following his stellar performance in the 2020-21 as well as looking ahead to the 2021-22 season, he has been placed in Category ‘A’. Rizwan has been rewarded for his consistent performance across all formats by moving him from Category ‘B’ to Category ‘A’.”

Injury-prone Hasan, who also made headlines after some media reports signalled he had refused to follow batting coach Younis Khan’s advice to take an ice bath during the last tour to South Africa was not included in the last year’s contracts list because he was injured. After that, the 27-year-old right-armer staged a fine comeback and played four Test — two each against South Africa and Zimbabwe -- taking 26 wickets and fared well in six T20 Internationals taking 13 wickets.

However, the all-rounder directly received category ‘A’, which seems a bit surprising while considering his performances in a short span of one year.

The 43-year-old Younis, who resigned as national team’s batting coach after developing differences with the PCB, last month had indirectly named a PCB official who was against him. That official is also included in the members of the committee which selected the players for different categories. Therefore, Hasan may have received a preference in getting the top category contract, as the PCB did not seem to be happy with Younis.

Azhar, 36, has been demoted to category ‘B’ from ‘A’ while Sarfaraz from ‘B’ to ‘C’. Right-handed batsman Azhar has confined himself to Test cricket while the country has few specialised cricketers for this format. Due to playing just Test cricket the annual income of such contracted players is significantly less and being a former Test captain, one feels Azhar should have been retained in category ‘A’ for encouraging more cricketers to focus on Test cricket.

The 34-year-old Sarfaraz has been included in the Pakistan team as the second-choice wicket-keeper behind Mohammad Rizwan. Instead of giving Sarfaraz category ‘C’ perhaps it would have been better to ask him to stay home.

As far as the profile is concerned, the authorities concerned should not overlook the fact that as skipper Sarfaraz elevated Pakistan to the top in T20 cricket and also led the team to a magnificent victory in the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy.

Moreover, reliable Test batsman Fawad Alam, who superbly proved many past selectors wrong for keeping him at bay for ten long years by smashing three centuries in eight Tests since coming back in August 2020 after playing his last Test way back in 2009. It is also a genuine case of promoting and encouraging specialised Test batsmen.

Meanwhile, it must be worrying for the selectors that a number of newly emerged players like Haider Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Naseem Shah and Usman Shinwari could not prove themselves consistent performers on international scene.

Moreover according to the press release, the PCB has given a 25 per cent increase in Category ‘A’ retainer with no increase in Test, ODI and T20I match fee.

Similarly, 25 per cent increase in Category ‘B’ retainer is given with Test match fee increased by 15 per cent, ODI match fee increased by 20 per cent and T20 International match fee increased by 25 per cent. For the category ‘C’, 25 per cent increase in category ‘C’ retainer; 34 per cent increase in Test match fee, 50 per cent increase in ODI match fee, 67 per cent increase in T20 International match fee is also given. Fifteen per cent increase in the emerging category retainer; 34 per cent increase in Test match fee, 50 per cent increase in ODI match fee, 67 percent increase in T20 International match fee is also given.

Central contracts list 2021-22 (reduced from 21 to 20):

Category ‘A’: Babar Azam, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Rizwan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Yasir Shah

Category ‘B’: Azhar Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Fawad Alam

Category ‘C’: Abid Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Nawaz, Nauman Ali, Sarfaraz Ahmed

Emerging category: Imran Butt, Shahnawaz Dahani, Usman Qadir

Published in Dawn, EOS, July 4th, 2021