Shoaib Malik promoted to grade 'A' contract by PCB

Former captain Shoaib Malik has been awarded a category A contract by the Pakistan Cricket Board after showing good form with the bat.

The 33-year-old all-rounder, who had not been part of the PCB's central contract for the last two years, was recalled to the national side for a limited-overs series against Zimbabwe in May.

Malik smacked a century against the African nation before maintaining his good form in the one-day and Twenty20 series win over Sri Lanka from July to August.

One-day captain Azhar Ali was also promoted to 'A' category, while out-of-favour off-spinner Saeed Ajmal was demoted to 'B' category following his struggles with remodelled bowling action, Sport24 reported.

Meanwhile, Test captain Misbah-ul-Haq, Twenty20 captain Shahid Afridi, Younis Khan and Mohammad Hafeez were the other players in the top category.

Category 'A' (6)

Azhar Ali, Mohammad Hafeez, Misbah-ul-Haq, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Younis Khan.

Category 'B' (8)

Ahmed Shehzad, Asad Shafiq, Junaid Khan, Rahat Ali, Saeed Ajmal, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Wahab Riaz, Yasir Shah.

Category 'C' (8)

Anwar Ali, Fawad Alam, Haris Sohail, Mohammad Imran, Mohammad Irfan, Mohammad Rizwan, Shaan Masood, Umar Akmal

Category 'D' (5)

Babar Azam, Sami Aslam, Sohaib Maqsood, Umar Amin, Zulfiqar Babar.