The national board of Pakistan stated on Wednesday that Pakistan’s best cricketers have agreed to new central contracts that would see some of them get salary raises of 200 percent. This news comes just days before the World Cup gets off in India.
The players will finally get a portion of the money that the International Cricket Council (ICC) pays the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for the first time as a result of the arrangement, which was reached after a stalemate that lasted for four months between the players and the PCB.
“PCB has successfully negotiated a three-year central contact deal with its senior players,” the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said in a statement. “The deal will run from July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2026, and it will include an offer to 25 cricket players,” the statement said.
According to the terms of the agreement, the players would be sorted into four distinct groups, with the captain, Babar Azam, the star batsman, Mohammad Rizwan, and the spearhead bowler, Shaheen Shah Afridi, competing at the highest level.
According to reports from the regional media in August, they would get over 4.5 million Pakistani rupees (approximately $15,500) every month as a result of the new agreement. This is a 200 percent increase in comparison to the contracts that had previously expired in June.
Imad Wasim and Abdullah Shafique are put in category C with a salary of 1.5 million rupees, while Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Nawaz, and Naseem Shah are placed in category B with a reported income of three million rupees. Shadab Khan is placed in category C with a salary of two million rupees.
Players that fall under Category D will get a salary of 750,000 rupees per month. These players include Fahim Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Ihsanullah, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Wasim Jr., Saim Ayub, Agha Salman, Sarfaraz Ahmad, Saud Shakeel, Shahnawaz Dahani, Shan Masood, Usama Mir, and Zaman Khan.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced that player match payments would be increased by a total of 12.5 percent for Twenty20 matches, 25 percent for one-day internationals, and 50 percent for tests.
When the 2018 FIFA World Cup gets off in India on October 5, Pakistan will be there representing one of the best teams in the competition.