Ramiz Raja surprised by Mohammad Hasnain’s absence from PCB’s central contract list

Former captain and current commentator Ramiz Raja was surprised to find that young fast bowler Mohammad Hasnain was not included in the list of central contracts issued by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Thursday for the 2019-2020 cricket season.

Among the players offered contracts, Hasnain — who didn’t play a single match during the World Cup 2019 — was nowhere to be found. Raja questioned this decision given that the fast bowler was part of Pakistan’s World Cup 2019 squad.

“Pakistan has decided that it wants to move in a new direction based on the performance of some young players, but if we talk about young players then I am surprised that Mohammad Hasnain didn’t get the contract because he was part of Pakistan’s World Cup squad,” Raja was quoted as saying in a video message as per as per a local website report.

Previously, PCB offered contracts to 33 players but this year they were reduced to just 19. Players who received the central contracts were divided into three categories — A, B and C.

Note-worthy candidates such as veteran all-rounders Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Hafeez were also missing from the contracted list however, as per PCB, remain available for selection.

Hasnain came under the spotlight with his performance under the Pakistan skipper Sarfaraz Ahmad for the Quetta Gladiators in the 2019 edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL). He was then given a spot in the national team and despite not playing a single match during the two-month long mega event; he did partake in the warm-up match against Afghanistan in Bristol and got a wicket.

Hasnain’s fate to be included in the national team is in the air. He is now set to play for the Trinbago Knight Riders in the upcoming Caribbean Premier League, whereas the Men in Green will be taking part in six World Test Championship games, three ODIs and nine T20Is.