KARACHI: Pakistan's Danish Kaneria and Shoaib Malik, under scrutiny by the Pakistan cricket board's integrity committee following the scandal-hit tour of England, have been dropped from the central contracts list for 2011.
Senior batsman Mohammad Yousuf was also dropped from the list of elite players who are paid directly by the board, indicating that the selectors have lost faith in his form.
"Until the integrity committee clears Danish and Malik they cannot be considered for national selection and only those players who have been given contracts are available for Pakistan," a board official told Reuters.
The two players have not played for Pakistan since the test series in England last year as they have failed to satisfy the integrity committee about their assets and bank balances.
The series led to three players being banned for a minimum five years by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for deliberating organising no-balls (spot-fixing) during the test with England at the Oval in August.
Malik, who has played 32 tests and 192 ODIs and is a former captain, recently met integrity committee members.
Yousuf, 36, a veteran of 90 tests and 288 ODIs and one of the top batsman produced by Pakistan in the last two decades, has been out of favour with the selectors since he had to return home from Dubai without playing a test due to fitness issues late last year.
The selectors have expressed their concerns over his fitness while not considering him for the World Cup.
"I am disappointed at not being given a central contract but I am certain once I get matters sorted out with the integrity committee I will be back in the frame," Kaneria, who has taken 261 test wickets, told Reuters.
The board has, however, given category A contracts to Younus Khan, Shahid Afridi, Misbah-ul-Haq, Shoaib Akhtar, Kamran Akmal, Abdul Razzaq and Umar Gul who are all presently playing in the World Cup being staged in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
Players in the A category are paid a monthly retainer of 200,000 rupees ($2350)) while those in category B and C get 175,000 rupees and 100,000 rupees respectively besides their match fees and other bonuses.
The board has given category B contracts to Mohammad Hafeez, Umar Akmal, Abdur Rehman, Saeed Ajmal, Wahab Riaz and category C contracts to Taufiq Umar, Asad Shafiq, Azhar Ali, Ahmed Shahzad, Adnan Akmal, Junaid Khan and Tanvir Ahmed.
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