Babar, Hasan, Imam, Rizwan, Shaheen receive red, white-ball contracts from PCB

RAWALPINDI: Pakistan captain Babar Azam, wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan, opener Imam-ul-Haq, pacers Shaheen Shah Afridi and Hasan Ali were awarded both red and white-ball central contracts by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Thursday.

Amongst these five, Babar, Rizwan and Shaheen are in Category A contracts in both formats. While Hasan has a Category B contract in red-ball cricket and Category C contract in white-ball cricket, Imam fetched a Category B contract in white-ball cricket while finding himself in Category C contract in red-ball cricket.

This is the first time that the PCB has introduced separate central contracts in both red and white-ball cricket, which come into effect from Friday for the 2022/23 season. PCB added that four more players have been added to the Emerging Category, taking the total of players receiving men's contracts to 33 players, 13 more than the previous season.

Amongst the 10 players who have received red-ball contracts, middle-order batter Azhar Ali has been promoted to Category A. Opener Abdullah Shafique and pacer Naseem Shah have been placed in Category C for the first time along with Saud Shakeel, who has been awarded Category D. IANS

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