Pakistan players receive pay hike

KARACHI, (Reuters) – Shahid Afridi and Younus Khan were handed top category central contracts in Pakistan despite being dropped for next month’s Champions Trophy.

All 30 players awarded central contracts also received a 15 percent pay hike, the Pakistan Cricket Board said on Tuesday.

“Last year we gave an increase of 25 percent in the retainers meaning the players have got a hike of 40 percent in the last two years,” a board official said.

Players in the top category would get a monthly retainer of around 375,000 rupees ($3808), while those in the B category would get 265,000 rupees and C category 160,000 rupees.

Shahid Afridi
Shahid Afridi

Central contracts have been awarded to:
Category A: Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Hafeez, Saeed Ajmal, Younus Khan, Shahid Afridi.

Category B: Umar Gul, Umar Akmal, Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq, Junaid Khan, Abdul Rehman, Shoaib Malik, Nasir Jamshed.

Category C: Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Irfan, Imran Farhat, Taufiq Umar, Aizaz Cheema, Adnan Akmal, Faisal Iqbal, Ahmed Shahzad.

Stipends category: Sarfaraz Ahmed, Wahab Riaz, Rahat Ali, Ehsan Adil, Umar Amin, Zulifqar Babar, Asad Ali, Harris Sohail Sohail, Anwar Ali