No Tamim, Afif in BCB central contract; Hridoy, Sakib included in 21-man list

Veteran batter Tamim Iqbal had reportedly requested the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) in December last year to not include him in the central contract for 2024. The board, after the 9th BCB Board of Directors meeting on Monday, announced a 21-man central contract list where Tamim's name was missing. 

All-rounder Afif Hossain, who was in the central contract last year, has also been excluded from this year's list while Towhid Hridoy and Tanzim Hasan Sakib are included in the list for the first time. Hridoy was contracted into both the white-ball formats, while Sakib has been included in ODIs only.  

Five players - Shakib Al Hasan, Litton Das, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Shoriful Islam, and Najmul Hossain Shanto - have been given contracts for all three formats. Shakib, Litton and Miraz were already on the three-format list in 2023. 

Fast bowler Taskin Ahmed has been excluded from the Test list as he has requested the board to keep him out of Test plans for a while. Wicketkeeper Nurul Hasan Sohan has also been excluded from the Test list while Mahmudullah is kept in the ODI contract.

Mominul Haque, Taijul Islam, Zakir Hasan, Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Syed Khaled Ahmed and Naeem Hasan have been included in the Test-only list while Nasum Ahmed, Mahedi Hasan and Sohan are in the T20-only list.

The monthly salary for the centrally contracted cricketers hasn't increased in this year's contract but BCB President Nazmul Hassan assured that the match fee and performance bonus will be increased.