The China Mail - Azam, Rizwan demoted in contracts as Pakistan scrap A category

There are now no players in the top category A for the first time since the system of central contracts was introduced 21 years ago.

Azam and Rizwan have both been demoted to category B contracts, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said.

"We have awarded central contracts to 30 players with 10 each placed in B, C and D. Notably, no player has been selected in category A in this cycle," the PCB said in a media release, without giving any reason.

Azam and Rizwan are the biggest names in Pakistan cricket but poor performances in the past 12 months saw them lose their places in the Twenty20 international squads announced for a tri-series and the Asia Cup.

Joining Rizwan and Azam in category B are T20I captain Salman Agha, Fakhar Zaman, Abrar Ahmed, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Saim Ayub, Shadab Khan and Shaheen Shah Afridi.

The national team's recent performances in all three formats of the game have fallen badly.

Pakistan beat England in a home Test series 2-1 last year but then lost 2-0 in South Africa and drew 1-1 at home against a lowly West Indies, finishing 10th and last in the World Test Championship.

The slump has also resulted in Pakistan Test captain Shan Masood being demoted from category B to D.

Pakistan won their first one-day international series in Australia for 22 years in November and routed South Africa 3-0 but then crashed out in the first round of the Champions trophy, an event they co-hosted with Dubai.

They also crashed out of last year's Twenty20 World Cup in the first round and lost a recent Twenty20 international series in Bangladesh 2-1.

The tri-series, also involving Afghanistan and the United Arab Emirates, starts from August 29 in Sharjah, followed by the Asia Cup in Dubai.

B.Chan--ThChM