Pakistan left out discarded Shahid Afridi and Saeed Ajmal from its list of central contracts announced on Thursday. The 36-year-old Afridi has not been selected since Pakistan's early exit from the World Twenty20 in India in April this year. The all-rounder stepped down from captaincy but expressed a wish to continue as a player.
Afridi was in category A, the highest rung in last year's contract. Offspinner Ajmal was in category B last year but lost his place after his remodelled action saw him left out of the team since May last year. Ajmal's bowling action was reported for chucking in July 2014 and cleared last year but his new action left him less effective. Pakistan Cricket Board said 30 players are included in four categories with Test skipper Misbah-ul-Haq, one-day captain Azhar Ali and Twenty20 captain Sarfraz Ahmed placed among eight players in category A. Maverick batsman Umar Akmal was demoted from C to D category while leg spinner Yasir Shah is promoted to A from B after helping Pakistan to a series draw in England with 19 wickets in August this year.
Category A: Azhar Ali, Mohammad Hafeez, Misbah-ul-Haq, Younis Khan, Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed, Yasir Shah, Wahab Riaz
Category B:
Rahat Ali, Asad Shafiq, Mohammad Amir
Category C:
Haris Sohail, Mohammad Rizwan, Imran Khan, Shan Masood, Mohammad Irfan, Sami Aslam, Babar Azam, Imad Wasim, Hassan Ali, Khalid Latif, Sharjeel Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Sohail Khan, Sohail Tanvir
Category D:
Anwar Ali, Zulfiqar Babar, Mohammad Asghar, Ahmed Shahzad, Umar Akmal.