Karachi, March 19 : The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Friday left out former captains Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf and Shoaib Malik from the central contracts.
Also overlooked were fast bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Rana Naveed-ul-Hasan as the board offered contracts to 37 players for one year effective from Jan 1.
Yousuf, Younis, Malik and Rana were among the seven players punished by the PCB for indiscipline and infighting during the team's disastrous tour to Australia.
Akhtar was not considered because of his lack of form and fitness.
The board decided to bring back fast bowler Mohammad Asif though he was ignored last year because of dope-related suspension. Also back is all-rounder Abdul Razzaq, who was banned in 2008 by PCB for switching allegiance to the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL). Both of them have been included in the elite A-list.
PCB has also introduced a special stipend category for the top performers in the domestic season and budding Under-19 and other players.
The list:
Category A: Umar Gul, Salman Butt, Danish Kaneria, Abdul Razzaq, Mohammad Asif, Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal
Category B: Umar Akmal, Mohammad Aamer, Saeed Ajmal, Faisal Iqbal, Misbah-ul-Haq, Imran Farhat
Category C: Fawad Alam, Yasir Arafat, Mohammad Hafeez, Wahab Riaz, Abdul Rehman
Stipend: Asad Shafiq, Junaid Khan, Aamer Sajjad, Naveed Yasin, Azhar Ali,
Khalid Latif, Khurram Manzoor, Tanveer Ahmad, Sarfraz Ahmad, Zulqarnain Haider, Umair Khan, Mohammad Talha, Shahzaib Hasan, Azeem Ghumman, Hammad Azam, Babar Azam, Raza Hasan, Sarmad Bhatti, Usman Qadir. (IANS)
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