NEW DELHI: Pakistan’s senior batter Fakhar Zaman has been left out of the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) central contracts for the first time in eight years, with PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi confirming that the decision was influenced by both fitness issues and Zaman’s controversial social media comments regarding the selection committee.
Speaking at a press conference on Sunday, Naqvi acknowledged that Zaman’s public criticism of the decision to drop Babar Azam from the Test squad during the England series played a role in his exclusion but stressed that his failure to clear a fitness test was the more significant factor.
“There is an issue regarding his tweet, but it is not as important as his fitness test,” Naqvi explained. “There is a show-cause notice pending against him, and we will see about that. The main issue with him is his fitness test, which he was not able to clear.”Zaman had criticized the selection committee’s decision to drop Babar mid-series, a move that did not sit well with the board. Naqvi made it clear that the PCB would not tolerate players publicly commenting on internal selection matters. “It cannot happen that if the selection committee is not playing one player, then others start tweeting to express their displeasure. Players are not allowed to function like this, and we will never allow that,” he added.
Fakhar Zaman’s removal from the contracts list sees him omitted from Category B, which now includes Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah. Category A remains unchanged, featuring Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan. The PCB also announced new names in Categories C and D, with players like Shadab Khan, Haris Rauf, and Saud Shakeel included in the lower tiers.
Full list of players in Pakistan’s central contracts
- Category A: Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan.
- Category B: Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Shan Masood (subject to captaincy).
- Category C: Abdullah Shafique, Shadab Khan, Abrar Ahmed, Sajid Khan, Salman Ali Agha, Saud Shakeel, Noman Ali (subject to fitness), Haris Rauf, Saim Ayub.
- Category D: Aamer Jamal, Mohammad Wasim, Mohammad Hurraira, Mir Hamza, Khurram Shehzad, Mohammad Ali, Usman Khan, Irfan Khan, Haseebullah Khan, Abbas Afridi, Kamran Ghulam.
