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

"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."

Apart from the three, Ghulam Fatima, Iram Javed and Sidra Ameen have all regained their central contracts that have seen a 15% increase in retainers across all the categories.

There was a promotion for eight players on the central contracts list. While allrounders Aliya Riaz and Nida Dar joined Maroof in category A, Anam Amin, Fatima Sana, Nashra Sandhu and Omaima Sohail were all elevated to category B from C. Muneeba Ali and Ayesha Naseem got an upgrade to category C.

Kaynat Hafeez, Nahida Khan, Najiha Alvi, Rameen Shamim, Saba Nazir and Syeda Aroob Shah were the six players who failed to secure a central contract. Out of these, Nahida is the only one who had a category C contract. The other five were on the Emerging contract list.

The PCB annual contracts will run from July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2023.

Category A: Aliya Riaz, Bismah Maroof, Nida Dar

Category B: Anam Amin, Diana Baig, Fatima Sana, Nashra Sandhu, Omaima Sohail

Category C: Ayesha Naseem, Muneeba Ali, Javeria Khan, Sidra Ameen, Sidra Nawaz

Category D: Ghulam Fatima, Gull Feroza, Iram Javed, Kainat Imtiaz, Sadia Iqbal, Sadaf Shamas, Tuba Hassan