PCB announces central contracts for 2025–26

LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced the central contracts for national cricketers for the 2025–26 season.

No player from the national cricket team qualified for Category A this year, prompting the board to abolish the category from the contracts.

A total of 30 players have been awarded contracts, with 10 each placed in Categories B, C, and D based on performance. The contracts will remain effective from July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026.

Last year, 27 players were awarded central contracts. This year the number has increased to 30, including 12 new players.

Ahmed Daniyal, Fahim Ashraf, Hassan Ali, Hassan Nawaz, Hussein Talat, Khushdal Shah, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Nawaz, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Mirza and Sufiyan Muqeem

Pakistani cricketer have been included in the new players.

9 players have managed to retain their former category while 8 players failed to get a contract.

A category abolished:

No player was included in the A category this year, which is why the category was currently abolished. Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan were included in the A category last year.

Notably, pacer Naseem Shah has been demoted from Category B to C, while Test captain Shan Masood has dropped from Category B to D. Meanwhile,  opener Fakhar Zaman has returned to the B category.

B category:

Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Shaheen Shah, Fakhar Zaman, Shadab Khan, Abrar Ahmed, Harris Rauf, Hassan Ali, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha have been included in the B category.

C category:

Abdullah Shafiq, Naseem Shah, Saud Shakeel, Fahim Ashraf, Sajid Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Haris, Sahibzada Farhan, Hassan Nawaz, Naaman Ali came to C category.

D Category:

Shan Masood, Hussein Talat, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Wasim Junior, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Khushdal Shah, Ahmad Daniyal, Salman Mirza, Khurram Shehzad, Sufyan Maqeem are included in the D Category.