The Pakistan Cricket Board said that ousted captain Sarfaraz Ahmed will remain in category A of the central contracts given to players as he is available for selection in all three formats of the game, PTI reported.
Dismissing rumors that the board had decided to relegate Sarfaraz to a lower category, a PCB spokesperson said Sarfaraz would retain his top category in the central contracts list, which run till July next year. “There will be no change in his central contract as he is available for selection in all three formats,” the spokesperson said.
Babar Azam, Pakistan’s new T20 captain, and leg-spinner Yasir Shah are the two other players in category A of the contracts. The board has also issued an apology for a faux pas it committed just at the time it was announced that Sarfaraz had been removed as captain from all three formats.
The board’s digital media team had uploaded a short video on its official page, in which a few players were found celebrating as a team official waved to Sarfaraz to walk off. The board said it had decided to release the video as part of its build-up to the World T20 but the change in captaincy was also announced at the same time.
The release of the video and change in captaincy upset many cricket followers, especially the supporters of Sarfaraz, who took it as an insult to the former skipper.