Pakistan Cricketers And Their Salaries For The Year 2020-21

On Wednesday, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced the list of players, who have bagged central contracts for the 2020-21 season. The likes of Mohammad Amir, Wahab Riaz, and Hasan Ali lost their contracts. At the same time, Sarfaraz Ahmed suffered a demotion from Category A to B. The trio of Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, and Mohammad Hasnain entered the list as emerging players in Category C contract.

Also Read: Misbah-Ul-Haq Defends The Omission Of Senior Pacemen From Pakistan’s Central Contracts List

Leg-spinner Yasir Shah, who has been central to Pakistan’s success in Tests, also sustained a demotion. He went from A to B while opening batsman Imam-Ul-Haq regressed from B to C. Coach and chief selector Misbah-Ul-Haq made a significant change to captaincy positions by appointing Babar Azam as the ODI captain. Babar Azam is one of the three along with Azhar Ali and Shaheen Afridi in Category A.

We take a look at monthly salaries of each Pakistan players as per the contract list of 2020-21:

Category A – 1.1 million

Azhar Ali

Pakistan Test captain Azhar Ali is one of the only three players to have made to Category A. In 2018; he gave up limited-overs cricket to fully concentrate on Test cricket. Nevertheless, the veteran’s form has been lean, having scored only 239 runs in six games at 21.73.

With nearly 6000 runs in 78 matches, the 35-year old remains one of the experienced batsmen in Pakistan line-up following the departures of Misbah and Younis Khan. With the national team languishing at number seven in Test rankings, Ali would be hoping for a turnaround of his form and the side’s too.

Babar Azam:

Perhaps the man, who holds the key to Pakistan’s future, Babar Azam has emerged as the most consistent batsman in their ranks. With an average of nearly 50 in all three formats, Pakistan has pinned their hopes on him to lead them in the correct direction.

Misbah-Ul-Haq stated that his performances have upgraded ever since taking over as the T20 captain. Hence, the men in green can expect massive returns from the 25-year old as their ODI leader. Babar’s show in the 2019 World Cup was exemplary, having scored 474 runs in eight fixtures at 67.71.

Shaheen Afridi:

Left-arm pace bowler Shaheen Afridi has performed equally well for Pakistan ever since his first appearance in 2018. His returns in ODIs in 2019 were the best, having taken 27 wickets in 13 games. During the 2019 World Cup, the 20-year old picked up 16 wickets in five games at 14.63.

Afridi’s best bowling figures came against Bangladesh at the Lord’s, snaring six wickets for 35 runs in less than ten overs. The astonishing display helped the men in green finish their disappointing campaign on a high note. Promotion to the highest grade is indeed a motivation for the youngster.

Grade B – PKR 7,50,000

Abid Ali:

At 32 years, Abid Ali has established himself as a potent opening batsman in Tests, and ODIs. In 2019, he became the first batsman to score a century in both ODIs and Tests on debut. Abid Ali’s maiden ODI century came against Australia in 2019 while he reached his first three-figure mark against Sri Lanka the same year.

The Lahore-born cricketer has notched up two hundreds in four Tests, scoring 321 runs and averaging 107. As far as 50-over cricket is concerned, the veteran’s average is 47.75 in four fixtures with a high score of 112.

Asad Shafiq:

Asad Shafiq is one of the classiest Test batsmen of this era. A disciplined cricketer, Shafiq possess the patience and defiance through which he has blunted some of the reputed bowling line-ups. In 2019, the 34-year old scored 378 runs in six games at an average of 42.

He remains a mainstay in Pakistan’s middle-order in Test cricket. One of Asad Shafiq’s best Test knocks came against Australia at the Gabba in 2016 while chasing a daunting 489 to win. The veteran’s hundred gave the tourists a realistic chance of gunning down the target.

Haris Sohail:

Haris Sohail enjoyed a productive year in 2019 as far as ODI cricket is concerned. The southpaw scored two centuries amongst his 654 runs in 15 games at an average of 50.31. Haris featured in two matches in the 2019 World Cup and averaged 48 in those games.

However, he endured a terrible year in Test cricket. The 31-year old managed only 18 runs in three fixtures at an awful average of 6. In the shortest format, Haris Sohail scraped through to 120 runs in five matches with a strike rate of 102.56.

Also Read: Irfan Pathan Reveals He Didn’t Want To Tour Pakistan For 2003 Under-19 Series

Mohammad Abbas:

In contrast to 38 wickets in seven Tests in 2018, Mohammad Abbas had a vastly terrible 2019. Across five Tests, the right-arm seamer picked up only 11 wickets at an abysmal average of 44.64. Abbas had three five-hauls in 2017 and one in the following year, but none in the previous year.

The first Test in Pakistan’s tour of Australia in late 2019 transpired without him playing the first Test. When the 30-year old returned for the second and the final Test, he failed to pick a single wicket in 29 overs. Abbas would be hoping for a turnaround in the upcoming year.

Mohammad Rizwan:

Mohammad Rizwan has emerged as Pakistan’s first-choice wicketkeeper after they decided to axe Sarfaraz Ahmed. While the 27-year old hasn’t achieved anything monumental so far, he has given glimpses of his abilities. After his comeback to the ODI team in 2019, he scored two centuries against Australia.

Later in 2019, he briefly counterattacked against Australia in the first Test in Brisbane. The keeper-batsman’s knock of 37 contained plenty of shots that flagged that he can be one batsman to watch out for. In the coming year, Rizwan would be hoping to go higher up the echelons.

Sarfaraz Ahmed:

One of the most significant discussions of the fallouts included Sarfaraz Ahmed’s demotion from Category A to B. Sarfaraz had the world at its feet after he ushered Pakistan to a Champions Trophy victory in 2017 by beating India comprehensively. From there on, Pakistan had bigger hopes from him.

But 2019 was the year when things began going south for the men in green under him. Even the 32-year old’s own form with the bat started subsiding. The men in green failed to cross the league stage in the 2019 World Cup and lost to Sri Lanka at home by 3-0 as the number one T20 team. Sarfaraz Ahmed’s average was 37, 28, 22 in ODIs, Tests, and T20Is respectively in 2019.

Shadab Khan:

As an all-rounder, Shadab Khan has plenty of potentials. But as far as performance goes, the leg-spinning all-rounder. Shadab has chipped in with useful contributions with both bat and ball; however, has hardly delivered a match-winning performance for Pakistan.

But his performances in the 2020 edition of Pakistan Super League (PSL) was much talked about. In nine matches, the 21-year old amassed 263 runs at a strike rate of 159.39. With the ball, he picked up eight wickets at 29.37. Considering back to back T20 World Cups, Pakistan would be hoping that Shadab can translate those when in national colours.

Shan Masood:

Test specialist Shan Masood is also one of the players in Category B. The 30-year old had rather a fruitful 2019 at the top of the order with 440 runs in six matches at 40. But what Pakistan would be hoping from him is show more consistency. Masood averages a mere 31.29 in 20 games with 1189 runs under his belt.

Yasir Shah:

Another one of the star players, who had to deal with demotion was leg-spinner, Yasir Shah. Similar to Mohammad Abbas, the leggie’s 2019 was the exact opposite to his previous year. In six Tests in 2018, he took an astonishing 38 with three five-wicket hauls at 23.53.

In 2019, the wrist-spinner snared six wickets in four games at an average of above 100. The thing with Yasir Shah, which is most glaring is his performances in UAE and outside of those, which has a drastic difference. But his performance with the bat has shockingly improved, having scored a Test century in Australia in 2019.

Category C – PKR 550,000

Fakhar Zaman:

Fakhar Zaman announced his arrival by scoring a century in the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy at the Oval within a handful of games into his career. The southpaw took apart the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja, and Ravichandran Ashwin on his way to a match-winning hundred.

Sadly, his performances in 2019 have been way below expectations. The 2019 Cricket World Cup saw Fakhar pass only 50 + score once in eight matches, averaging 23.25. The 30-year old’s numbers in the shortest format were even more awful, averaging only 6.25 in eight games with 50 runs.

Iftikhar Ahmed:

Limited-overs specialist Iftikhar Ahmed and one of the newly-contracted players possess the hard-hitting abilities, but hasn’t utilised the same according to the situations. His blitz against Australia in one of the T20 games in 2019 was indeed noteworthy; however, the 29-year old needs to be more consistent. The right-handed batsman accumulated 150 runs in five T20Is in 2019.

Imad Wasim:

Imad Wasim’s case is similar to that of Shadab Khan, having plenty of experience and needing more consistency. The southpaw’s 2019 in ODIs transpired well, having cracked 472 runs in 21 matches at 47.20.

Imad also had a decent run in T20Is, making runs at a strike rate of 137.50. In ten matches, the 31-year old also bagged 13 scalps at an economy rate of 5.76.

Imam-Ul-Haq:

The nephew of the enigmatic Inzamam-Ul-Haq, Imam-Ul-Haq’s strongest suit of them all is ODIs. The left-handed batsman averaged 47.58 in 21 games in 2019 with 904 runs with three centuries and three fifties.

It wasn’t better than that of 2016 and 2017 in which his numbers were 73.50 and 61.09 respectively. As far as Tests are concerned, Imam could manage only 94 runs in three games at 15.67.

Naseem Shah:

Naseem Shah made his Test debut for Pakistan against Australia at the Gabba the age of 17. He came up with a reputation for bowling with express pace. Yet for all his laborious efforts, the teenager could pick up only one wicket.

But things turned around for Naseem Shah in the following series against Sri Lanka in which he picked up his first five-wicket haul. The five-wicket innings in Karachi sealed the hosts’ series win as the sport returned to the nation after ten years. It also made Naseem the youngest pacer to take a fifer in Test cricket.

Usman Shinwari:

Usman Shinwari is yet another newly-contracted player, who is predominantly a white-ball specialist. The left-arm pacer featured in eight ODIs in 2019, snapping 16 wickets at 22.38. Despite a promising display in the five-match series against Australia before the World Cup, Shinwari missed out on the selection.

The 26-year old also played three T20Is and a Test in 2019, claiming three and a single scalp in both the formats respectively. Usman Shinwari has an experience of playing in Australia, having played for Melbourne Renegades in the Big Bash League. Pakistan selectors would be having the same at the back of their mind, considering the T20 World Cup later this year.

Also Read: Misbah-Ul-Haq Explains Babar Azam’s Appointment As Pakistan’s ODI Captain