Afridi, Akhtar among 5 players to be denied PCB contracts

In a major shake up, the Pakistan Cricket Board has omitted around five leading players, including former captain Shahid Afridi, from the list of new centrally contracted players for the next six-month term.

In a major shake up, the Pakistan Cricket Board has omitted around five leading players, including former captain Shahid Afridi, from the list of new centrally contracted players for the next six-month term.

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According to well placed sources in the PCB the board had finalised the list of players to be awarded central contracts from July to December and it does not include atleast six players who were given contracts in the first half of 2011.

"The likes of Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Akhtar are out because they have announced their retirements while players like Kamran Akmal, Abdul Razzaq and Ahmed Shahzad have not got the nod from the selectors this time because of number of issues, mainly inconsistent form and performances," one source disclosed.

The source added that former captain Shoaib Malik could get a central contract if he is cleared by the integrity committee for national selection on August 15.

"The finalised list includes some new names but the major omissions are Razzaq and Kamran because of their performances," he said.

The ICC Task Force had suggested that PCB should only award contracts to 20 players but the board has decided to ignore this recommendation because of its own policies.