Shoaib oversteps the dotted line

The top 17 Pakistan cricketers will get a monthly salary of around 3,500 to 1,200 dollars under the first ever national contract they signed...

The top 17 Pakistan cricketers will get a monthly salary of around 3,500 to 1,200 dollars under the first ever national contract they signed here on Sunday, officials said.

However star pacer Shoaib Akhtar raised certain objections and has not signed the contract, details of which would be unveiled by Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Shaharyar Khan at a press conference later.

Captain Inzamam-ul Haq, vice-captain Yousuf Youhana, all-rounder Abdul Razzaq, and Akhtar were offered ‘A’ category contracts and will get a monthly salary of $3,500, they said.

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Cricket officials said Akhtar had certain objections on restrictions over his private endorsements.

“The PCB has put a clause in Akhtar’s contract that whenever he signed a private endrosement he would need PCB’s permission which stopped Akhtar from signing the contract,” they said.

Reports in Pakistan media suggested Akhtar was initially placed in the ‘B’ category but when he raised the issue with the PCB chairman last week he and Razzaq were elevated to the top grade.

Players put in the ‘B’ category will get $2,100 dollars while players in the ‘C’ category will get $1,200 a month. Pakistan was the only Test playing country not to have central contracts with the players.

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The PCB designed the contracts after studying model contracts from Australia, India and South Africa.

Big brothers with deep pockets

		Yearly retainership comparision A category (India): Rs 60 lakh A category (Pakistan): About Rs 20 lakh B category (India): Rs 30 lakh B category (Pakistan): About Rs 12 lakh C category (India): Rs 15 lakh C category (Pakistan): About Rs 7 lakh (Besides the Indian players get Rs 2 lakh per Test and Rs 1.60 lakh per ODI)

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