Pak players sign central contract

The source said that the PCB chairman, Zaka Ashraf asked the players to say a clear 'yes or no' on the contracts issues or they would be degraded to category C.

"Ashraf made it clear that he was willing to listen to the players views about certain clauses when he visited Galle for the first Test but said that first they must sign the contracts or they would be paid match fees as C category players," the source said.

The source confirmed that Misbah-ul-Haq, Younis Khan, Shahid Afridi, Mohammad Hafeez and Umar Gul were among the seniors who have signed the contracts conditionally.

"The PCB Chairman, Zaka Ashraf spoke to them on phone and asked them why there was a delay in the signing of the contracts. He spoke to Misbah and Hafeez and both said the players had no major issues with the pay raises but with few clauses in the contracts," he said.

The board announced the new central contracts for 21 players and retainers for another 21 players on May 26, two days before the team was scheduled to leave on the tour of Sri Lanka. (MORE)