Shahid Afridi, the former Pakistan captain, and wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal have not been given central contracts by the PCB. Younis Khan, who was banned for disciplinary reasons following a winless tour of Australia in 2009-10 and didn't feature in the contracts list last year, has been awarded a Category A contract along with current captain Misbah-ul-Haq, allrounder Mohammad Hafeez, spinners Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman and fast bowler Umar Gul - the only player retained in the top category from the previous year's list.
Afridi had retired "conditionally" from international cricket following his removal as captain after the tour of West Indies, while Kamran, who had received a Category A contract in 2010, was dropped from the national side for that tour and hasn't played since.
Umar Akmal and opener Imran Farhat were retained in Category B. Also included in that grade were Abdul Razzaq, demoted from grade A last year, middle-order batsmen Asad Shafiq and Azhar Ali, who have been impressive finds for Pakistan in the last couple of years, and left-arm seamer Wahab Riaz, who took a five-for against India in the World Cup semi-final.
|
