Shoaib bags central contract

Shoaib Akhtar has been handed a central contract a year after being overlooked by the Pakistan Cricket Board.

Paceman back in the fold after turbulent year

Shoaib Akhtar has been handed a central contract a year after being overlooked by the Pakistan Cricket Board. The controversial fast bowler was hit with a five-year suspension 12 months ago by the PCB after he voiced his displeasure at the decision not to include him, a ban that was later reduced and then suspended. But the 33-year-old has been named in the top 'A' category despite having taken part in just three Twenty20 internationals in the past year. "The central contracts were devised by coach Intikhab Alam, manager Yawar Saeed and chief selector Abdul Qadir and the main criteria was seniority of the players," chief operating officer Salim Altaf. Amongst the 26 to be given contracts are captain Shoaib Malik, vice-captain Misbah ul-Haq, Younis Khan, Shahid Afridi, Umar Gul, Kamran Akmal, Salman Butt and Danish Kaneria were in the 'A' category. Akhtar has been at loggerheads with the PCB on and off throughout a turbulent career that saw him test positive for the banned steroid nandrolone in October 2006. He was suspended for two years but later had the ban overturned on appeal. Category A (250,000 rupees per month) Shoaib Malik, Misbah-ul-Haq, Younis Khan, Danish Kaneria, Salman Butt, Kamran Akmal, Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul, Shahid Afridi.
Category B (175,000 rupees) Yasir Hameed, Mohammad Hafeez, Sohail Tanvir, Faisal Iqbal.
Category C (100,000) Yasir Arafat, Abdul Rehman, Fawad Alam, Rao Iftikhar, Sohail Khan, Nasir Jamshed, Sarfraz Ahmed, Khurrum Manzoor, Saeed Ajmal, Wahab Riaz, Umar Amin, Samiullah Niazi, Azhar Ali.