Fakhar Zaman Excluded from PCB Contracts After Backing Babar Azam; Shaheen Afridi Demoted
. Zaman’s public support for Babar, along with his criticism of the selection committee, didn’t sit well with the PCB, leading to a show-cause notice for his tweet, which highlighted Babar’s value to the team despite recent struggles.
In a surprising move, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has excluded star batter Fakhar Zaman from its latest list of centrally contracted players. The decision comes shortly after Zaman openly defended former Pakistan captain Babar Azam, who was controversially dropped from the Test squad for the last two matches in Pakistan’s current series. Zaman’s public support for Babar, along with his criticism of the selection committee, didn’t sit well with the PCB, leading to a show-cause notice for his tweet, which highlighted Babar’s value to the team despite recent struggles.
In his post on the social platform X, Fakhar compared Babar’s form to that of India’s Virat Kohli, who endured a slump between 2020 and 2022 but was consistently backed by the Indian selectors. "India didn’t bench Virat Kohli during his rough patch from 2020 to 2023... If we are considering sidelining our premier batsman, arguably the best Pakistan has ever produced, it could send a deeply negative message across the team," Fakhar wrote, urging the board to avoid “pressing the panic button.”
Alongside Fakhar’s omission, PCB has also demoted premier pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi from Category A to Category B in their contract listings, while Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan remain the only players in the top Grade A category. These changes have sparked discussions about the PCB’s current approach to team dynamics and management.
