Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Thursday announced the reduction in the number of cricketers for 2019-20 season. Previously, they have decided not to renew the contracts of coaches and now they have gone for players.
The PCB has now brought down the number of contracted players from 33 to 19 in this season. Babar Azam, Sarfaraz Ahmed, and Yasir Shah are the three players who were put into category A.
Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik were the two players who were not listed but will be available for the selection.
PCB stated the considerations before finalizing the list, players performance and fitness in the past 12 months, and the formats that they are likely to represent Pakistan in the upcoming season.
The PCB has brought a change in the categories, especially for this season. They went for three categories instead of going for five as in the previous season. They have included a split series of two Tests, three ODI’s and three T20 matches against Sri Lanka, two Tests and three T20 matches against Australia and a series of two Tests and three T20 matches against Bangladesh.
List of centrally contracted players:
Category A: Babar Azam, Sarfaraz Ahmed, and Yasir Shah
Category B: Asad Shafiq, Azhar Ali, Haris Sohail, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Abbas, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, and Wahab Riaz
Category C: Abid Ali, Hasan Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Rizwan, Shan Masood, and Usman Shinwari
“I want to congratulate all those who have been offered central contracts for the next season. We have significantly increased the financial value of the 2019-20 retainers across each category. This is over and above what had been agreed upon in the current agreement, which is due to run until 2021,” – Managing Director Wasim Khan said.
“The PCB has set high standards and targets in its strategic plan for the upcoming season. We want to attach a high value to receive a central contract. We have complete faith and confidence that these players will set-up and produce on-field performances that will help us collectively achieve our objectives and targets,” – Wasim Khan added.
 on Thursday announced the reduction in the number of cricketers for the 2019-20 season. Previously, they have decided not to renew the contracts of coaches and now went for players.){kind=link}