BCB awards central contracts to 22 players, Mahmudullah opts out

Dhaka, (The Uttam Hindu): The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) awarded central contracts for the year 2025 to 22 players here on Monday. Most of the contracted players were part of Bangladesh's squad at the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 in Dubai and Pakistan. Veteran all-rounder Mahmudullah has informed BCB Cricket Operations that he does not wish to be considered for a national contract beyond February 2025, meaning he will be excluded from the list starting in March. Former captain Mushfiqur Rahim, who announced his retirement from ODIs last week, will be placed in Grade B from March onward. Wicketkeeper Parvez Hossain Emon, who did not feature in the Champions Trophy, has also been left out. Among those included in the contracts are wicketkeeper Litton Das, fast bowler Hasan Mahmud, Test opener Shadman Islam, spinner Taijul Islam, and bowler Shoriful Islam, who missed the Champions Trophy due to injury. Others on the list include batting all-rounder Mominul Haque, bowling all-rounder Mahedi Hasan, and bowler Khaled Ahmed. The contracts, which begin from the start of the year, have been divided into five categories with pacer Taskin Ahmed being the sole player in the A+ while Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mehidy Hassan Miraz, Litton Das, and Mushfiqur Rahim were named in the A category. Mominul Haque, Taijul Islam, Mahmudullah (till February 2025), Mustafizur Rahman, Tawhid Hridoy, Hasan Mahmud and Nahid Rana were placed in the B category while Shadman Islam, Soumya Sarkar, Jaker Ali, Tanzid Hasan, Shoriful Islam, Rishad Hossain, Tanzim Hasan Sakib and Mahedi Hasan received the C category contracts. Nasum Ahmed and Khaled Ahmed were the two recipients in the D category. Bangladesh made the group stage exit from the recently-concluded Champions Trophy after losing to India and New Zealand while their match against host Pakistan was washed out. Still, it was a big achievement for Bangladesh to become part of the top eight in the ODI rankings to be included in the Champions Trophy ahead of teams like former World Cup winner Sri Lanka and the West Indies.