Sarfraz Ahmed demoted, Amir dropped in contracts lists

LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced the central contract list for the 2020-21 season, which will come into effect from 1 July, 2020.

Test captain Azhar Ali and emerging pace bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi and have been promoted to Category A.  Former captain Sarfraz Ahmed has been demoted to Category B from Category A. Yasir Shah and Imam-ul-Haq have also slipped a category each.

Naseem Shah and Iftikhar Ahmad were the two new faces in the 18-player men’s central contract list for the 2020-21 season. Naseem Shah became the youngest Test bowler in history to take five wickets and a hat-trick in consecutive Tests against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

Iftikhar had the best average and strike rate in T20Is amongst the Pakistan batsmen. He played two Tests, two ODIs and seven T20Is in the 2019-20 season.

Naseem’s bowling partner Shaheen Shah Afridi, who took the most Test wickets for Pakistan in the 2019-20 season, is one of the four players to get promotions.

Shaheen, following his 18 Test and two T20I wickets, has moved up in Category A, while Abid Ali, Mohammad Rizwan , and Shan Masood have been awarded Category B.

The PCB has created a new Emerging Players’ Category as part of its commitment and strategy to reward high-performing young cricketers.

Naseem Shah named in men’s central contract list for 2020-21https://t.co/sLLfzETmCJ pic.twitter.com/av0Y3VtxUZ

— PCB Media (@TheRealPCBMedia) May 13, 2020

The initial inductees are Haider Ali and fast bowlers Haris Rauf and Mohammad Hasnain. Haider was a standout batsman for the Pakistan Emerging and U19 sides, whereas Haris and Hasnain showed their prowess in limited-overs cricket.

Hasan Ali, Mohammad Amir and Wahab Riaz have missed out on central contracts but will remain in contention for selection, while Imam-ul-Haq, Sarfraz Ahmed and Yasir Shah have slipped one category each.

Pakistan men’s national team chief selector and head coach Misbah-ul-Haq said the criteria for merit-based central contract list were simple and straightforward.

He said selectors reviewed player performances in the past 12 months and then looked at team requirements in the forthcoming year.  Misbah further stated that Sarfraz is in team management’s future plans because of his experience.

PCB confirmed Azhar Ali as Test and Babar Azam as ODI and T20I captains for the period during which Pakistan is scheduled to play nine Tests, six ODIs and 20 T20Is, besides the Asia Cup and the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2020.

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

Category A: Azhar Ali, Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi

Category B: Abid Ali, Asad Shafiq, Haris Sohail, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Rizwan, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Shan Masood, Yasir Shah

Category C: Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Imam-ul-Haq, Naseem Shah, Usman Shinwari

Emerging Players’ Category: Haider Ali,Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain