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Fakhar Zaman omitted from PCB's centrally contracted players after defending Babar Azam; Shaheen Afridi demoted
PCB demoted premier pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi to Category B from Category A, and did not offer central contracts to Fakhar Zaman.
Fakhar Zaman suffered a massive blow when the Pakistan Cricket Board decided to exclude the star batter from the list of centrally contracted players. Zaman recently took a dig at the PCB after Babar Azam was dropped from the Test squad for the last two matches against Pakistan, which didn't go well with the board. He was given a show cause notice for his tweet supporting Babar, in which he openly criticised the selection committee for losing faith in their former captain's red ball abilities.
The left-handed batter tweeted his views where he compared Azam's run drought with India's Virat Kohli, who went through a lean patch between 2020 and late 2022.
"It's concerning to hear suggestions about dropping Babar Azam. India didn't bench Virat Kohli during his rough stretch between 2020 and 2023, when he averaged 19.33, 28.21, and 26.50, respectively," Fakhar wrote on 'X'.
"If we are considering sidelining our premier batsman, arguably the best Pakistan has ever produced, it could send a deeply negative message across the team. There is still time to avoid pressing the panic button; we should focus on safeguarding our key players rather than undermining them."
Premier pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi has also suffered a blow in the recent announcement as he has been demoted to Grade B in the latest list, while Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan remained the only two players in the Grade A category.
As part of the PCB’s strategy to incentivise, encourage and reward talented and emerging cricketers, five players have been offered central contracts for the first time - Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Ali, Muhammad Irfan Khan and Usman Khan.
List of centrally contracted players:
Category A (2): Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan
Category B (3): Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Shan Masood
Category C (9): Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Haris Rauf, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Sajid Khan, Salman Ali Agha, Saud Shakeel and Shadab Khan
Category D (11): Aamir Jamal, Haseebullah, Kamran Ghulam, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Hurraira, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Mohammad Wasim Jnr and Usman Khan.
