How much salary will Pakistan cricket players get after new central contract?

After months of deadlock and protests, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) have agreed on new contracts with their men's cricketers on Thursday. This includes massive salary hikes and a fixed share of revenue from the board's earnings.

As per the new deal, 25 centrally contracted players have been divided into three categories. Players in Category A will earn PKR 4.5 million ($15,900 or ₹13.14 lakh approximately) every month.

Category B players would receive PKR 3 million ($10,600 or ₹8.76 lakh approximately). Those in Category C and D will get between PKR 0.75-1.5 million ($2650-5300 or ₹2.19-4.38 lakh approximately) per month.

Apart from this, the PCB have also hiked the match fees across formats - a 50 percent increase in Tests, 25 percent in ODIs and 12.5 percent in T20Is. After hikes, these would amount to PKR 1.25 million ($4,358 approximately) for a Test, PKR 644,620 for an ODI ($2,247.70) and PKR 418,584 ($1459) for a T20I.

PCB also agreed to share 3% of their annual revenue with the players. This would be $1 million divided among the 25 players over their monthly salary and match fees. However, the exact method of this division hasn't been disclosed yet.

Category A: Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan and Shaheen Shah Afridi

Category B: Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah and Shadab Khan

Category C: Imad Wasim and Abdullah Shafique

Category D: Fahim Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Ihsanullah, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmad, Saud Shakeel, Shahnawaz Dahani, Shan Masood, Usama Mir and Zaman Khan

"Extremely happy and satisfied" - Babar Azam on salary hike

Men's captain Babar Azam, who was at the forefront of the players' struggles for new contracts and salary hikes, expressed his satisfaction with the deal.

"It is by far a historic deal," he said. "I am extremely happy and satisfied that we have reached an agreement with the PCB. It has been a lengthy and, at times, challenging negotiation process, but I believe we have reached a fair and beneficial agreement for both parties."

Babar's team will play their first match of the 2023 World Cup on October 6 against the Netherlands.