Social media use may be restricted for Pakistani cricket players in new PCB contracts

• Pakistan Cricket Board to include social media restriction in central contracts.
• The current contracts of male cricket players are expiring June 30.
• PCB to offer central contracts to players before England tour.

LAHORE: Pakistan's cricketers may not be able to post about any of their team's activities during any series on social media anymore as the Pakistan Cricket Board is reportedly introducing new restrictions.

The PCB plans to include a social media restriction clause in the upcoming central contracts for players, sources were quoted as saying by The News.

The PCB is expected to offer central contracts to players before their departure for the England tour. The current contracts of male cricket players are expiring June 30.

Read more: PCB likely to promote Fakhar Zaman, Hasan Ali to B category

What can we expect from the PCB contracts?

Opener Shan Masood and middle-order batsmen Haris Sohail and Asad Shafiq are expected to be demoted.

Star pacer Hasan Ali and all-rounder Faheem Ashraf are likely to be included in the list of centrally contracted players.

Opening batsman Fakhar Zaman and middle-order batsman Fawad Alam are likely to be promoted to B category, while pacers Haris Rauf and Mohammad Hasnain are likely to be offered C category contracts.

Read more: Major changes expected in central contracts of Pakistani cricketers

Mohammad Rizwan, Babar Azam, former captain Azhar Ali and star fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi will continue to stay in the elite A Category.

"There are good chances that Abid Ali (Central Punjab), Sarfraz Ahmed (Sindh), Shadab Khan (Northern), and Yasir Shah (Balochistan) will retain their places in category A for the next year," a source said

It remains unclear if Mohammad Hafeez will accept the category C contract or not. He was given the offer during a reshuffle a few months back and had turned it down.

Mohammad Nawaz is likely to be included in the contracts list while Haider Ali, who failed to live up to the expectations during the whole year, may be left out.

The PCB may also give some weightage to cricketers’ performance during the remaining PSL VI matches.