Dropped from the line-up across all formats after also being sacked from captaincy, Sarfaraz Ahmed is set to be demoted from category A to C in the new central contracts list, to be announced by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in August, told a source close to the development to PTI. 

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"Sarfaraz has been demoted to category C in the new contracts as he is presently not a member of the playing side," a PCB source was quoted as saying.

It is understood that the board has decided against reducing the central contract retainers or match fees for the players despite the COVID-19 pandemic leading to cricket's indefinite shutdown. 

Last year, the PCB had awarded central contracts to only 19 players, without including veterans Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik. It was a policy decision of the board to focus on a shortened list of players with regards to the contracts. 

Sarfaraz, being the captain at the time, was slotted in A category, alongside Babar Azam and Yasir Shah. However, the man was sacked in November across all forms of the game in the aftermath of Pakistan's unsuccessful ODI World Cup campaign in the UK. 

PCB CEO, Wasim Khan, Director International Cricket Operations, Zakir Khan and the head coach and chief selector, Misbah Ul Haq are part of the committee that will finalise the new list of contracted players. 

The board had last year decided to also increase the retainership fee by around 25-40 per cent. And this time, in another good news for the players, the PCB is contemplating increasing the Test match fee. 

Test match fee is currently Rs 762,300 for Category A players, Rs 665,280 for Category B and Rs 568,260 for Category C players.

The source claimed that Test batsmen Shan Masood and Abid Ali are likely to be promoted to Category B while pacer Hasan Ali could be dropped from the list. 

Players currently part of the central contracts list are: 

Category A: Babar Azam, Sarfaraz Ahmed and Yasir Shah.

Category B: Azhar Ali, Haris Sohail, Imam-ul-Haq, Asad Shafiq, Mohammad Abbas, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Wahab Riaz.

Category C: Shan Masood, Fakhar Zaman, Muhammad Aamir, Abid Ali, Muhammad Rizwan, Hasan Ali, Usman Shinari and Imad Wasim.

(Inputs from PTI)