Shoaib awarded central contract

Shoaib Akhtar was recalled by Pakistan for October's Twenty20 Canada series

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Shoaib Akhtar was the most notable inclusion among the 26 players today awarded central contracts by the Pakistan Cricket Board.

The 33-year-old fast bowler was at odds with the previous PCB regime, having criticised them after he was handed a five-year ban last spring during a break-down in relations.

Shoaib played only a handful of matches for his country in 2008 because of his ban and injury, and did not receive a central contract.

Subsequently, however, he had his ban reduced on appeal to only 18 months, and then commuted by a High Court ruling to a suspended punishment.

A decision still pends over a $100,000 fine, which was also imposed.

The PCB’s new-look selection panel, headed by former Test leg-spinners Abdul Qadir and Intikhab Alam, have made it clear Shoaib is central to their plans by giving him a prized Category A contract - along with eight more of their lynchpin players.

The full list of PCB player contracts:

Category A - Shoaib Akhtar, Younis Khan, Danish Kaneria, Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal, Shoaib Malik (captain), Misbah-ul-Haq, Salman Butt, Umar Gul.
Category B - Yasir Hameed, Faisal Iqbal, Mohammad Hafeez, Sohail Tanvir.
Category C - Iftikhar Anjum, Abdur Rehman, Yasir Arafat, Fawad Alam, Khurram Manzoor, Saeed Ajmal, Sohail Khan, Wahab Riaz, Samiullah Khan, Sarfraz Ahmad, Nasir Jamshed, Umar Amin, Azhar Ali.