Cricket Dec 07, 2025

Pakistan cricket: Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Shan Masood and Naseem Shah have central contracts downgraded

👤
By Admin
Sports Journalist
Pakistan cricket: Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Shan Masood and Naseem Shah have central contracts downgraded

Pakistan have downgraded the central contracts of Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan and Test captain Shan Masood.

Babar and Rizwan, left out of the squad for the T20 international Asia Cup in the United Arab Emirates from September 9-28, have been relegated from the A band of deals to category B.

Pakistan head coach Mike Hesson recently said Babar, who has not played a T20I since December 2024, "had been asked to improve in some areas around taking on spin and in terms of his strike rate."

No players have been placed in the A category in a set of contracts that run until June 30, 2026.

Masood has dropped from band B to the lowest tier in band D after Pakistan finished bottom of the 2023-25 World Test Championship.

Masood steered his nation to a 2-1 victory over England last October but they were then subsequently beaten 2-0 in South Africa before drawing 1-1 at home to West Indies.

The left-hander's record as Test skipper reads played 12, won three, lost nine.

Seam bowler Naseem Shah has dropped from category B to category C, although the upgrades from C to B include leg-spinners Shadab Khan and Abrar Ahmed and fast bowler Haris Rauf.

Category B: Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Rizwan, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi.

Category C: Abdullah Shafique, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Nawaz, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Noman Ali, Sahibzada Farhan, Sajid Khan, Saud Shakeel

Category D: Ahmed Daniyal, Hussain Talat, Khurram Shahzad, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Salman Mirza, Shan Masood, Sufiyan Muqeem

Tags:

cricket news id:13414470

Share this article

Related Posts

County Championship: Craig Overton's career-best 141 helps Somerset to beat Essex in dominant win at Chelmsford

County Championship: Craig Overton's career-best 141 helps Somerset to beat Essex in dominant win at Chelmsford

Somerset closed out a dominant 10-wicket win over Essex at Chelmsford for a first Rothesay County Championship victory of the new campaign.After Craig...

County Championship: Vintage James Anderson display inspires Lancashire victory over Derbyshire

County Championship: Vintage James Anderson display inspires Lancashire victory over Derbyshire

James Anderson rolled back the years with a brilliant intervention to bowl Lancashire to a surprise last-day win over Derbyshire.Anderson, now 43 and...

Women's T20 World Cup: Record total prize fund announced with tournament winners set to take home ÂŁ1.74m

Women's T20 World Cup: Record total prize fund announced with tournament winners set to take home ÂŁ1.74m

The International Cricket Council has announced a 10 per cent increase from 2024 in the total prize fund for the Women's T20 World Cup 2026, which wil...

Ben Stokes: England captain denies rift with head coach Brendon McCullum and insists disagreements are healthy

Ben Stokes: England captain denies rift with head coach Brendon McCullum and insists disagreements are healthy

Ben Stokes has dismissed any suggestion that he and Brendon McCullum are not aligned, insisting that differences of opinion are integral to healthy an...

County Championship: Zak Crawley's struggles continue as Kent collapse in response to Northants

County Championship: Zak Crawley's struggles continue as Kent collapse in response to Northants

Zak Crawley made his third successive sub-30 County Championship score for Kent after Northamptonshire ran up a record 684 for two declared at Canterb...

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi: How long can India ignore 15-year-old wonderkid - and could he be unleashed against England?

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi: How long can India ignore 15-year-old wonderkid - and could he be unleashed against England?

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi wrote his name into the history books by becoming the youngest‑ever IPL centurion - just nine days after his record‑breaking debu...