LAHORE, Jan 11: On the recommendation of chief selector Abdul Qadir, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has given ‘C’ category of the central contract to lanky fast bowler Abdul Rauf on Sunday.

Rauf, despite being one of the top domestic wicket-takers with a haul of 405, was surprisingly missing from the list of 26 contracted players announced last week.

Rauf’s omission invited severe criticism from the media and other cricketing circle, who were also critical of some other players, such as Saeed bin Nasir, Bazid Khan, Kamran Hussain, being overlooked.

The PCB chairman Ijaz Butt, who had a meeting with the some members of the Governing Board here on Sunday, also got feed back from them about Rauf who also recommended his name as one of the deserving candidates. The chairman immediately contacted the chief selector who had no objection in awarding Rauf a contract.

Rauf, a consistent performer in domestic cricket, was finally given a chance to play for the country by former chief selector Salahuddin Ahmed despite opposition from PCB’s ex-Chief Operating Officer Shafqat Naghmi.

In four One-day Internationals since his debut against Zimbabwe at Sheikhupura last February, Rauf has claimed eight wickets.