PCB announces central contracts for players

Six players in category 'A', eight in 'B' and 'C' while five players have been inducted in category 'D'

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Saturday announced the names of 27 players who are given central contracts for a year from July 2015-July 2016 in four different categories, Express News reported.

Pakistan ODI captain Azhar Ali, Test captain Misbahul Haq and T20 captain Shahid Afridi have been included in 'A' category. Meanwhile, Muhammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik and Younus Khan have also been inducted in the same category.

'B' category has eight players named in it which include opener Ahmed Shehzad, middle-order batsman Asad Shafiq, wicketkeeper-batsman Sarfraz Ahmed, fast-bowlers Junaid Khan, Rahat Ali, Wahab Riaz and leg-spinner Yasir Shah. Off-spinner Saeed Ajmal who hasn't been a regular part of the team since remodelling his action has also been named in this category.

In 'C' category, batsmen Fawad Alam, Haris Sohail, Shan Masood and Umar Akmal have been included. Wicketkeeper-batsman Muhammad Rizwan, and fast-bowlers Anwar Ali, Muhammad Irfan and Imran Khan have also been named in this category.

In the last of the four category, 'D', batsmen Sohaib Maqsood, Umar Ameen and Sami Aslam have been inducted, while all-rounder Babar Azam and left-arm spinner Zulfiqar Babar have been added in this category as well.

Read: Deadlock between PCB and players over central contracts ends

The players and PCB had a long-standing dispute over the new central contracts which was going on from before the 2015 World Cup. The announcement comes as a positive news showing relations between the board and the players to be good.

According to a PCB media release, the players and board agreed on the following points: