ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has downgraded star players Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan in its latest list of 30 centrally contracted cricketers announced on Tuesday.
Both Babar and Rizwan, previously in Category A, have been relegated to Category B, where they join Abrar Ahmed, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shadab Khan, and Shaheen Shah Afridi.
Notably, the PCB chose not to award any contracts in the top tier, instead distributing players evenly across Categories B, C, and D, with 10 cricketers in each.
The move comes after Pakistan’s white-ball head coach, Mike Hesson, remarked last week that Babar needed to improve his strike rate and performance against spin in T20 cricket. Both Babar and Rizwan have again been left out of Pakistan’s T20 squad for the upcoming tri-series and Asia Cup.
Following Pakistan’s poor showing at the ICC World Test Championship, Test captain Shan Masood has also been demoted, moving from Category B down to Category D. Fast bowler Naseem Shah, omitted from the upcoming T20 tournaments in the UAE, has been dropped from the second to the third tier of contracts.
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Wicketkeeper-batter Usman Khan, who opted to represent Pakistan instead of the UAE, was among eight international players excluded entirely from central contracts.
While several key players faced demotions, others earned promotions. Legspinner Abrar Ahmed, fast bowler Haris Rauf, opening batter Saim Ayub, T20 skipper Salman Ali Agha, and legspinner Shadab Khan were all upgraded from Category C to Category B.
The new central contracts will remain in effect until June 30, 2026.