KARACHI: After a week of negotiations, top players including captain Babar Azam, pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi, and Mohammad Rizwan have agreed to sign the Pakistan Cricket Board's (PCB) amended central contracts.
According to ESPNcricinfo, the group of players signed the dotted line before heading for the Netherlands tour on the proviso that they will meet with the board again after the Asia Cup in September to negotiate a handful of other contract issues.
A few features of the contracts have sparked concerns among the veteran players.
"These range from inquiries concerning the NOC process for participation in international leagues to obtaining additional information about image rights in ICC events and shares from participation fees at ICC tournaments, as well as clauses around signing individual endorsements," according to the report.
For the first time in 2022-23, the PCB released 33 central contracts this season, with white and red-ball players split evenly.
According to the board's regular procedure, when copies of the contract were handed out to the players at the outset of the pre-tour camp in Lahore, many of the lower-level players signed the dotted lines, but the senior stars did not. The group also included Shadab Khan, Fakhar Zaman, and Hasan Ali, in addition to Babar, Afridi, and Rizwan. Given that there is no players body in the country, the players requested extra time to review the finer points of their contracts with their advisers and lawyers.
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