Babar Azam named new ODI captain as Amir, Wahab lose central contracts.

Byline: Mohammad Yaqoob

LAHORE -- The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Wednesday handed more responsibility to prolific batsman and T20 skipper Babar Azam by naming him as the new ODI captain in place of Sarfraz Ahmed while also announcing the central contracts for 18 Pakistan players for the year 2020-2021.

Young fast bowler Naseem Shah and all-rounder Iftikhar Ahmed featured in that list of 18 players but the marked omissions were three pacers Mohammad Amir, Wahab Riaz and Hasan Ali who were completely left out According to the information gathered, the process to decide the amount of monthly stipends for the players is still in progress. The PCB has said that there might be some increase in the salaries but there is no move under consideration to cut down the amount due to the prevailing situation created by Covid-19.

Sarfraz, who was earlier removed from the Test and T20 format has lost the ODIs captaincy as well. However, contrary to the rumours that he will be left out of the list altogether or may be relegated to C category, he still features in the B category of the central contracts. He previously featured in the 'A' category.

MOHAMMAD Amir

Announcing the decisions, head coach and chief selector Misbah-ul-Haq said the PCB was giving the central contracts much before the due date (July 1), to give a clarity to the players and it also reflected how much it cared for the cricketers, despite the Covid-19 tragedy.

Misbah said: 'The philosophy and criteria for this merit-based central contract list is simple and straightforward: the selectors reviewed player performances in the past 12 months and then looked ahead to our team requirements in the forthcoming 12 months.

'I am thankful to the PCB chairman for supporting our recommendation to give the contracts to emerging players such as Haider, Haris and Hasnain. This is part of our forward-looking strategy and investing in the future, while also encouraging the future national team players who have tremendous potential. I am sure this will motivate a number of youngsters in the 2020-21 domestic cricket to perform up to the expected level and earn such incentives.'

Misbah said although the one-day matches are nearly almost six months away, the decision to name Babar as captain was taken for the clarity and it was a unanimous decision. 'Though it is the authority of PCB chairman to appoint the captain, in the end it is always a unanimous decision,' Misbah said.

SHAHEEN Shah Afridi

'As Babar...