|| CF Correspondent ||

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), announced their 2020-21 season central contract list of the players. Where Sarfaraz Ahmed has been demoted from Category A to Category B. On the other hand, young pacer Shaheen Afridi and Test skipper Azhar Ali have been promoted to the Category A alongside ODI and T20I captain Babar Azam.

The PCB has also axed veteran pacer Mohammad Amir and Wahab Riaz from the contract list. Earlier both players have retired from the Test. However, they are playing in white-ball cricket regularly. Hasan Ali is also not in the list of contract.

Apart from Shaheen Afridi and Azhar Ali, Abid Ali, Mohammad Rizwan and Shan Masood got promotions. Imam-ul-Haq and Yasir Shah are demoted a category each. Iftikhar Ahmed is the only other new face in the 18-player contract list and Haider Ali, Mohammad Hasnain and Haris Rauf are the part of Emerging Players’ Category.

Pakistan head coach Misbah-ul-Haq said that the selection of players in the contract list was totally based on merit and considering the past 12 months performance. He also said that as Hasan Ali didn’t able to play most of the matches in the last season due to his injury so he was removed while the veteran player Wahab Riaz and Mohammad Amir have been axed as they retired from the red-ball cricket.

“The philosophy and criteria for this merit-based central contract list was simple and straightforward: the selectors reviewed player performances in the past 12 months and then looked ahead to our team requirements in the forthcoming 12 months," Misbah-ul-Haq said in the PCB’s press release.

“The selectors have made the tough decisions to leave out Amir, Hasan and Wahab but considering Hasan missed most of the season due to an injury and Amir and Wahab decided to focus on white-ball cricket, this was the right move," he added.

He also said that as Amir and Wahab are experienced bowlers they will remain in contention to play for the country.

“However, Amir and Wahab are senior and experienced bowlers and they remain in contention as we believe they can still contribute to the Pakistan men’s cricket team and also mentor our young battery of fast bowlers,” he concluded.

PCB Men’s Central Contract List for 2020-21:

Category A

    Azhar Ali (Central Punjab)
    Babar Azam (Central Punjab/Karachi Kings)
    Shaheen Shah Afridi (Northern/Lahore Qalandars).

Category B

    Abid Ali (Sindh/Lahore Qalandars)
    Asad Shafiq (Sindh/Multan Sultans)
    Haris Sohail (Balochistan)
    Mohammad Abbas (Southern Punjab)
    Mohammad Rizwan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa/Karachi Kings)
    Sarfaraz Ahmed (Sindh/Quetta Gladiators)
    Shadab Khan (Northern/Islamabad United)
    Shan Masood (Southern Punjab/Multan Sultans)
    Yasir Shah (Balochistan/Peshawar Zalmi).