Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam are the only two players of the Pakistani cricket team who have retained their spot in the central contract’s top category.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced the central contract of the players on Sunday, October 27, 2024, nearly four months after the due date, ESPN Cricinfo reported.
Former captain Babar, who is struggling with his form and was dropped from the latest test match despite a long streak of poor performance, maintains his position in Category A along with the most probably the new white ball captain Rizwan.
Moreover, test captain Shan Masood, who led the green shirts to a historic win against England on home ground, maintained his spot in Category B along with Naseem Shah, while pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi, who was dropped from the team in the second and third tests against England, dropped down from the top to the second category.
However, it is not clear whether he will remain in his position for a year or not, as PCB stated in a press release that his retention in Category B was “subject to captaincy.”
Meanwhile, Fakhar Zaman, who received PCB show-cause notice earlier this month for criticizing PCB’s decision to drop Babar from the squad, missed out central for the first time in eight years.
Category A: Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan
Category B: Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood
Category C: Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Haris Rauf, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Sajid Khan, Salman Ali Agha, Saud Shakeel, and Shadab Khan
Category D: Aamir Jamal, Haseebullah, Kamran Ghulam, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Hurraira, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Usman Khan
