Pace bowler Taskin Ahmed has been rewarded for his perseverance and hard work as Bangladesh's national selection panel has put him in the A+ bracket in their proposed 22-member central contract for 2025, reports Cricbuzz.
The proposed draft of the list of central contracts was tabled up in front of the Bangladesh Cricket Board's (BCB) directors during their last meeting on February 3.
According to the draft seen by Cricbuzz, changes were made to recognise top performers for the central contract as the board returned to the universal grading system by bracketing the players into five categories - A+, A, B, C, D - instead of Test, ODI and T20I category that was in place earlier.
Test and ODI skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Litton Kumar Das, and veteran wicketkeeper-batter Mushfiqur Rahim were placed in A category.
Experienced campaigner Mominul Haque, Taijul Islam, Mahmudullah, and Mustafizur Rahman are placed in B category that also includes Towhid Hridoy, Hasan Mahmud, and Nahid Rana.
The C category includes Shadman Islam, Soumya Sarkar, Jaker Ali Anik, Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Shoriful Islam, Rishad Hossain, Tanjim Hasan Sakib and Mahedi Hasan.
Left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed and pacer Khaled Ahmed have been placed in the D category.
It is understood that the board did not approve the central contract list right away as they were debating whether Mushfiqur and Mahmudullah should be offered a central contact or not.
Earlier, BCB insisted that both the seniors need to perform if they want their place in the ODI World Cup. Mahmudullah has already retired from Test and T20Is and is now only concentrating on ODIs while Mushfiqur is yet to retire from the two longer formats of the game.
Central Contract list for 2025 (proposed):
A+ category - Taskin Ahmed.
A Category - Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Litton Kumar Das, Mushfiqur Rahim.
B Category - Mominul Haq, Taijul Islam, Mahmudullah, Mustafizur Rahman, Towhid Hridoy, Hasan Mahmud, Nahid Rana.
C Category - Sadman Islam, Soumya Sarkar, Jaker Ali Anik, Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Shoriful Islam, Rishad Hossain, Tanjim Hasan Sakib, Mahedi Hasan.
D Category- Nasum Ahmed, Khaled Ahmed.
Bd-pratidin English/Tanvir Raihan
