PCB drops Fakhar Zaman from central contract for coming out in support of Babar Azam

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced their latest central contracts on Sunday. Opening batter Fakhar Zaman’s name has been struck off the list. The left-handed batter had questioned the axing of Babar Azam for the final two Test matches against England. It was reported that many PCB officials weren’t happy with Fakhar Zaman’s tweet. 

Babar Azam has been retained in the Category A along with Mohammad Rizwan. Pace bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi has been demoted to the Category B. Test skipper Shan Masood who was in Category C last year has been promoted to Category B. The 35-year-old led his side to a 2-1 series win at home against England on Saturday.

Khurram Shahzad is a new name in the contract list along with Muhammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Ali, Usman Khan, and Muhammad Irfan Khan. Young batter Kamran Ghulam who scored a century on his Test debut has also been the central contract. 

Mohammad Rizwan named new white ball skipper 

Pakistan Cricket Board announced wicketkeeper and batter Mohammad Rizwan as the new skipper of the white ball teams. The 32-year-old will lead the side during the upcoming tours of Australia and Zimbabwe. Salman Ali Agha has been named as the vice-captain of the side for the two tours. 

Babar Azam is part of the Australian series along with Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah. The trio have been dropped for the Zimbabwe tour as the PCB have decided to give young players a chance to perform and show their skills. 

Pakistan will play three ODI matches and three T20I matches during their tours of Australia and Zimbabwe. Babar Azam had stepped down as the white ball skipper just before the England series. The 30-year-old also lost his place in the side owing to poor form with the bat in the series against Bangladesh and only Test appearance against England. 

Pakistan Central Contracts for 2024/25

Category A - Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan

Category B - Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Shan Masood

Category C - Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Haris Rauf, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Sajid Khan, Salman Ali Agha, Saud Shakeel and Shadab Khan

Category D - 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.