PCB announced list of 20 contracted players/ No Central Contract for Inzi

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Central contracts list finalised; Inzamam snubbed

KARACHI: National selectors have ignored former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq while finalising a list of 30 players to be submitted today to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for issuance of central contracts.

Well-placed sources told ‘The News’ on Tuesday that the members of the national selection committee have reached a consensus on the list of players to be recommended for new central contracts. They have decided against recommending Inzamam for a central contract but have opted to keep in the list all other leading national cricketers who were previously given contracts by the PCB.

Sources said that the selectors have snubbed Inzamam mainly because they do not think that the 37-year-old batsman is valuable for the Pakistan team any more.

However, the official reason to be given for his omission would be the fact that Inzamam is only available to play Tests following his decision to retire from ODIs.

Inzamam was at the helm of Pakistan’s disastrous World Cup campaign this March when they crashed out of the 16-nation spectacle following defeats against the West Indies and underdogs Ireland. The Multan-born player resigned as Pakistan captain and also announced quitting ODI cricket following the debacle.

Sources said that the Board has given clear instructions to the national committee that is headed by former Test cricketer Salahuddin Ahmed to only consider players who are available for national duty both for Tests and one-dayers.

Inzamam, who has 8813 runs from 119 Tests and is one of the highest run-getters in ODI cricket (11739 runs from 378 games), fell out of favour with top PCB officials following the World Cup disappointment and was later singled out as the chief villain behind the disaster by a probe committee appointed by the Board.

The selectors were asked by the Board to submit a list of 30 players whom they believe should get central contracts.

The PCB officials will discuss this week the list to be submitted by the national selection committee and will later award central contracts to 20 players. The contracts will come into effect from July 1.

A new pay formula, which the PCB official say would reward performance more than seniority was approved by the Board’s ad-hoc committee in Bhurban last week.

The PCB suspended the previous contracts following Pakistan’s first-round exit from the World Cup in the Caribbean.

Sources said that the selectors have included several young players in the list including talented all-rounder Fawad Alam and pacers Najaf Shah, Abdul Rauf and Mohammad Irshad. Second string players like batsmen Hassan Raza and Asim Kamal have also been recommended.

The selection committee that also includes former Test cricketers Shafqat Rana and Saleem Jaffar has also included discarded Test opener Imran Farhat in the list.

The left-handed batsman was fined by the Board last month over misconduct. Imran had an argument with the chief selector after he was dropped from the Pakistan squad for a three-match series against Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi.

It’s a shame that they are going to throw inzi out of Pakistan cricket (if its true) because he still has alot to offer alteast for good 1-2 seasons and secondly he dererves to leave Pakistan cricket with grace and style.

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Re: No Central Contract to be offered to Inzi?

No need to get emotional about Inzi. Inzi (like Tendulkar) is past his "Sell By" Date. We Desis, must learn to put the interest of the nation, before the need to supposedly "respect" an individual howsoever great in the past.

Retiring a legendary batsman is not insulting him. They are the ones who bring it upon themselves by not doing it voluntarily.

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Re: No Central Contract to be offered to Inzi?

Read the post properly before commenting on it. I said Inzi still has alot to offer unlike Tendi who lately has been a liability on the Indian team specially in test matches.

And who said to continue with legendary bastmen when they become a budren, a practice very common in subcontinent?

I have been strictly against those legends who never learnt when to quit. Kapil Dev, Miandad were the prime examples. At the same time, I was against PCB when they never provided an opportunity to greats like Wasim and Waqar to leave cricket with diginity. Inzi still is better than alot of youngsters and in my opinion hasn't reached the point when he should retire voluntarily and yes it's a shame if they are going to retire him before that point.

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Re: No Central Contract to be offered to Inzi?

So they don't offer him a central contract. If they do select him to play test cricket, I am sure he will be paid the match fees etc.

Considering he is one whose selection into test cricket team is iffy, partly due to PCB's view to re-energize the team with youngsters, and partly due to his own age and fitness (remember his back that was acting up a lot in the last few years), do we really think it is a huge deal if he is not given a retainer but will only be paid if he actually plays? Consider him moving from a regular employee into a more consultant role where he is paid for hours worked. Granted that he is not formally retired from test cricket (yet), so its all awkward, but having announced his retirement from ODI's he is obviously signalled that he is on his way out of cricket and retiring from test cricket is just a matter of time.

I hope he plays a few more tests as he is still a valuable players who can more than carry his weight in the test team, at least when he is fit, and for the time being. For what its worth, I don't see a youngster who has the same run producing ability as Inzi at this time. So purely on merit and on performance criteria, I believe, he gets a spot in the team.

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Re: No Central Contract to be offered to Inzi?

Central contract is certainly a secondry thing for Inzi. If we see the requirements that the central contract is based upon, I would say that Inzi really doesn't deserve to have one. And am sure even Inzi himself would be least bothered about it. He might have past his sell-by date, but his utility is still valuable.

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Re: No Central Contract to be offered to Inzi?

Faisal bhai nobody here is worried about Inzi monthly salary.

Since the inception of central contracts in Pakistan, how many times Pakistan have played players in test matches who were not contracted by the board?

Additionally, the ways things are going between PCB and Inzi since World Cup, do you guys think that dropping Inzi from test matches for the upcoming season is not a possibility?

Not picking him up for conditional camps and not considering him for central contract could be an indication of what to expect in future. I hope I am wrong.

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Re: No Central Contract to be offered to Inzi?

The decision was likely based on non-performance reasons - fear that Inzi's presence would come in the way of Malik establishing himself, be a disruptive influence etc. On performance alone, tough to argue that Inzi wouldnt still walk into nearly any test team.

Interesting contrast between this and the Indian approach - we prefer to take our non-performing / disruptive stars (Tendulkar, Ganguly, etc) and give them more responsibility as vice captains / leaders in the team. This ingenious approach allows us to achieve multiple goals: (a) really test the captain and make him prove his mettle, (b) eliminate the unnecessary selection debates that would arise if we were to have talent-based selection (Laxman etc), and (c) last but not the least, provide material for Star TV (not that this has ever been a problem for those fine folks). Overall a lot more fun all around.

~**~ Khushkhabari for Rabika ~**~
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Re: No Central Contract to be offered to Inzi?

Central contracts to be awarded by July 1

Inzamam likely to lose out on contract

Inzamam ul Haq, former captain and Pakistan’s most successful batsman, is likely to lose out on a central contract because of his decision to retire from ODIs. Due to that decision, and the PCB’s insistence that only those players who play both forms of cricket are up for contracts, Inzamam’s chances of landing a contract look slim, according to the chief selector.

“The PCB has given us a clear policy to consider only those players who are available for both Test and ODIs,” Salahuddin Ahmed told APP. He stressed that Inzamam was not overlooked in any way but it was only his decision to retire that will work against him when contracts are handed out.

“We have submitted a list of 30 players to the PCB and it will be the choice of the board to award central contracts to 20 players. We do not know who will be given contracts,” he said. “It is not our job to determine the categories of players and it is the discretion of the board to place the players in various categories.”

The Pakistan team is involved in one-day cricket till the end of September, including matches in Scotland as well as the Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa. Their first Test will be when they host South Africa for a series in October, which may well be the first chance to recall Inzamam to the national side.

“At the moment our priority is to look at immediate assignments and we will be giving due consideration to Inzamam for his selection based on performance and fitness. Our job is to stick with PCB’s policies and we are working in a transparent manner as far as selection of the team or finalising the list of players for awarding them central contracts,” he maintained.

The contracts are due to be handed out by July 1 while the Board also hopes to appoint a coach in place before the team sets out to the tour of Scotland.

SOURCE: http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/pakistan/content/story/298844.html

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Re: No Central Contract to be offered to Inzi?

yeh to hona hi thaa, don't we all know PCB very well?

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Re: No Central Contract to be offered to Inzi?

Meanwhile, former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq has not been included in a list of 20 players awarded central contracts by the board.

Despite retiring from one-day cricket following the World Cup, he was still hoping to continue his Test career.

“The selectors wanted to give central contracts to those players who are playing both forms of the game,” explained Ashraf.

Contract players: Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Yousuf, Younis Khan, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul, Mohammad Asif, Abdul Razzaq, Salman Butt, Mohammad Sami, Imran Farhat, Mohammad Hafeez, Yasir Hameed, Danish Kaneria, Kamran Akmal, Imran Nazir, Rao Iftikhar, Faisal Iqbal, Misbah-ul-Haq, Yasir Arafat.

SOURCE: BBC SPORT | Cricket | International Teams | Pakistan | Pakistan pick Lawson as new coach

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Re: PCB announced list of 20 contracted players/ No Central Contract for Inzi

Pleased to see Yasir Arafat In there, would like to see him replace Razzaq in our TEST line up.

1st ODI - Pakistan v England - Sep 10
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Re: PCB announced list of 20 contracted players/ No Central Contract for Inzi

Central contracts to be valid till end of the year
Inzamam not offered central contract

The Pakistan Cricket Board edged Inzamam-ul-Haq further out of international cricket by not awarding the former captain a central contract. **The door is not yet shut, the PCB were keen to point out, but it is looking increasingly unlikely that Inzamam will be involved in Pakistan’s upcoming season in any capacity. **

Inzamam’s omission wasn’t a surprise; local reports had predicted it sometime back. The new selection committee had hinted that it was time to move on and bring in middle order replacements, despite Inzamam’s stated desire to play on in Test cricket. Inzamam was not, as Nasim Ashraf revealed, even in the 33 probables the selection committee had sent out of which 20 were chosen.

**“It is not true that the board don’t want Inzamam to play,” Ashraf said. “Even if he isn’t on the list he can still be selected to play. But I want to stress that selection will be 100% based on physical fitness.” **

The official reason for his omission was his retirement from ODIs after the World Cup; the board was keen to award contracts to only those who could play both forms of the game. **One official, however, admitted to Cricinfo that, on form, Inzamam still warranted a place in the Test side and it was only the need to find new blood which kept him out. **

In this light, the selection of Misbah-ul-Haq for a central contract, is particularly baffling. He last played a Test for Pakistan nearly four years ago, his last ODI was nearly three years ago and his record in either form of the game is modest. At 33, he doesn’t represent new blood.

The new central contracts, to be put in place with immediate effect, will run initially till December. From January, new year-long contracts will be awarded. Pakistan’s players had been without contracts since the World Cup, when the board suspended them in the aftermath of a poor display in the Caribbean.

The new contracts have been calculated on a set of criteria formulated by the board which give weightage to factors such as player performances in the preceding 12 months (40%), as well as to fitness (20%), discipline (20%) and seniority (20%).

There remain three grades as before and for now, the retainers for each category are unchanged. Category A players will receive a Rs 250,000 monthly retainer, category B players Rs 150,000 and category C players Rs 100,000.

Additionally, match fees has also been increased for every player. “We have decided to base match fees on performances as well. The more experienced you have, the better you perform, the higher your match fees, so category A players will have the highest match fees. We discussed this with the players and they were keen to link it to performances. The fees have increased for everyone across the board,” Ashraf said.

The board will pay approximately 20 players on the fringes of national selection a retainer of Rs 50,000 per month. The list has not yet been finalised but will include potential future players and selectorial recommendations.

Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Asif and Umar Gul have all moved up to category A in the new contracts, while Misbah, Imran Nazir and Yasir Arafat are new names on the list.

Category A: Shoaib Malik (capt), Mohammad Yousuf, Younis Khan, Shoaib Akhtar, Shahid Afridi, Umar Gul, Abdul Razzaq, Mohammad Asif

Category B: Salman Butt, Mohammad Sami, Imran Farhat, Mohammad Hafeez, Yasir Hameed, Danish Kaneria, Kamran Akmal (wk)

Category C: Imran Nazir, Rao Iftikhar Anjum, Faisal Iqbal, Misbah-ul-Haq, Yasir Arafat

SOURCE: http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/pakistan/content/current/story/302240.html

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Re: PCB announced list of 20 contracted players/ No Central Contract for Inzi

As Khan Sahab announces the arrival of a chamat - Only this time, it's a chamat by the usual receiving party, Ashraf. :D