21-year-old leg-spinner named in Pakistan women's central contracts for 2022-23

Three players – Tuba Hassan, Gul Feroza and Sadaf Shamas – have been handed central contracts for the first time.

Tuba won the ICC Women's Player of the Month for May 2022 for her memorable debut series against Sri Lanka. In the three-match T20I series, the leg-spinner claimed five wickets – the most in that series for Pakistan – and returned impressive figures of 3/8 in her debut match.

“I am absolutely thrilled and excited at being given the prestigious central contract for the first time," Tuba said. "Hard work has slowly started to pay off, but this is just the beginning. My focus remains on producing strong performances and contributing in my team’s success, rest I am sure will take care of itself as we have seen in this case.

“I want to thank all my seniors, teammates, support staff and family members who have backed me in this journey to date. Playing and performing for Pakistan and my team remains my only objective, and with the support of a strong group of people around me, I remain confident that I will improve and live up to their expectations,” she added.

The three experienced players – Aliya Riaz, Bismah Maroof and Nida Dar – have been named in Category A. Both Riaz and Dar have been promoted the year from Category B to A while Javeria Khan, who was in the A category last year, has been demoted to Category C.

Ghulam Fatima (last contract in 2018-19), Iram Javed (last contract in 2016-17) and Sidra Amin (last contract in 2019-20) have been awarded contracts this year.

The six players who have been omitted from the list are Kaynat Hafeez, Nahida Khan, Najiha Alvi, Rameen Shamim, Saba Nazir and Syeda Aroob Shah.

Pakistan Women’s Central Contracts 2022-23:

Category A – Aliya Riaz, Bismah Maroof and Nida Dar
Category B – Anam Amin, Diana Baig, Fatima Sana, Nashra Sandhu and Omaima Sohai
Category C – Ayesha Naseem, Muneeba Ali, Javeria Khan, Sidra Amin and Sidra Nawaz
Category D – Ghulam Fatima, Gul Feroza, Iram Javed, Kainat Imtiaz, Sadia Iqbal, Sadaf Shamas and Tuba Hassan