LAHORE - PCB Test Cricketer of the year 2020, Mohammad Rizwan, has been promoted to Category A of the PCB’s Central Contract List 2020-21 following stellar performances across all formats in the ongoing season. In the elite category, the 28-year-old has now joined Pakistan captain Babar Azam, former captain Azhar Ali and star pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi.
Since the current central contracts were announced on May 13, 2020, Rizwan is Pakistan’s leading run-scorer in Tests with 529 runs in seven matches at an average of 52.90, while he is overall the third leading run-scorer in T20Is with 325 runs at an average of 65 and strike-rate of just under 139. In the three ODIs against Zimbabwe, he scored 25 runs. Behind the wickets, Rizwan has accounted for 16 batsmen in Tests, three in ODIs and eight in T20Is in the season during which Pakistan played international cricket against England, Zimbabwe, New Zealand and South Africa. Their upcoming assignments are in South Africa and Zimbabwe.
As part of its policy to acknowledge, incentivise and reward high-performing cricketers, the PCB has also elevated Fawad Alam from A+ domestic contract category to Category C of the PCB Central Contract List 2020-21, while it also offered Category C contract to T20I specialist Mohammad Hafeez, which he politely turned down. Fawad Alam scored centuries against New Zealand and South Africa, and has now aggregated 320 runs in 11 innings of six Tests. His 102 against New Zealand in the Boxing Day Test earned him the PCB Individual Performance of 2020 award.
PCB Chief Executive Wasim Khan: “I want to congratulate Rizwan and Fawad for earning well-deserved and well-earned promotions. This is a reward for their hard work and high-quality performances during the difficult and challenging bio-secure environments that tested their determination, resolve, commitment, mental toughness and physical fitness to the limits.
“However, Mohammad Hafeez declined the reward and while I am disappointed, I fully respect his decision. He wants to wait for the PCB Central Contract 2021-22 list, which he is fully entitled to. Hafeez has been one of our star performers of the season and we hope he will carry the form and momentum to Africa,” he added.
UPDATED EN’S CENTRAL CONTRACT LIST:
CATEGORY A: Azhar Ali, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan and Shaheen Shah Afridi.
CATEGORY B: Abid Ali, Asad Shafiq, Haris Sohail, Mohammad Abbas, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Shan Masood and Yasir Shah.
CATEGORY C: Fakhar Zaman, Fawad Alam, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Imam-ul-Haq, Naseem Shah and Usman Shinwari.
EMERGING PLAYERS’ CATEGORY: Haider Ali, Haris Rauf and Mohammad Hasnain.