A day after being demoted from Category A to B in PCB's list of centrally contracted players, veteran cricketer Mohammad Hafeez is reportedly considering retirement from international cricket, DawnNewsTV reported.

Hafeez, 37, had been a perennial recipient of the Pakistan Cricket Board's top category contract, but that changed on Monday when his place in the highly exclusive group of six was given to rising star Babar Azam.

That hasn't gone down well with Hafeez, who, according to sources close to him, is now disillusioned due to "discriminatory treatment" and, as a result, "cannot continue to keep on playing.

"Mohammad Hafeez will not sign the central contract."

Perhaps to add credence to the "discriminatory" argument, the source recalled that coach Mickey Arthur had dropped Hafeez in the first four matches of last month's ODI series against Zimbabwe.

"Hafeez had then refused to play the fifth match in protest," the source added.