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On Sunday, October 27, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) released the list of its centrally contracted players for 2024-25. In a noticeable change, Pakistan batter Fakhar Zaman was dropped from the contract list, reportedly after raising question over former Pakistan skipper, Babar Azam’s omission from the Test squad in the recently concluded series against England.
Also Read: Mohammad Rizwan replaces Babar Azam as Pakistan’s white-ball captain
While Fakhar Zaman was snubbed from the contract list for the first time in eight years, Shaheen Shah Afridi was demoted from Category A to Category B, leaving Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan as the only two players in the top-tier category.
Shan Masood gets PCB contract “subject to captaincy”; Noman Ali’s inclusion based on fitness
Moreover, Shan Masood, who recently led the Men in Green to their first Test series win since July 2023 and first at home in four years, has been named in Category B of the PCB's centrally contracted list of players. Furthermore, his retention in the category was “subject to captaincy”. It is to be noted that there were speculations over how long would Shan Masood keep the Test captaincy reigns despite losing first six Test at the helm.
Additionally, in the 25-member contracted list of players, apart from Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Imad Wasim, Hasan Ali, Iftikhar Ahmad, Mohammad Haris, Sarfaraz Ahmad are a few notable names who continue to miss out.
List of Pakistan’s 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.
