Hafeez Reacts to PCB’s Central Contract Categories

Former Pakistan captain Mohammad Hafeez has voiced strong disapproval of the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) decision regarding the newly announced central contracts for the 2025–26 season, specifically the absence of an A-category.

Hafeez took to social media platform X to share his disappointment with the category allocations, emphasizing that even the Test captain and recent series victors were assigned to lower tiers.

He stated, “No A-category player in Pakistan cricket. Test captain in D category. Test match and series winners like Sajid Khan, Noman Ali & Saud Shakeel are in C category. Diminished emphasis on Test cricket and first-class cricket is the primary cause of the recent decline.”

The PCB revealed central contracts for 30 male cricketers on Tuesday, with no player securing a spot in category A this year. In a departure from previous years, ten players have been placed in each of the B, C, and D categories.

The pool of contracted players has grown from 27 to 30, with 12 new entrants making the list.

These new additions include Ahmed Daniyal, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Nawaz, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Mirza, and Sufyan Moqim.

Simultaneously, five players—Abrar Ahmed, Haris Rauf, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, and Shadab Khan—have been promoted from Category C to B following impressive recent performances.

Nine players have maintained their positions, including Abdullah Shafique in Category C, as well as Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, and Mohammad Wasim Jr in Category D.

The list also marks the exclusion of eight notable players: Aamir Jamal, Haseebullah, Kamran Ghulam, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Huraira, Muhammad Irfan Khan, and Usman Khan, who were not offered contracts for the upcoming year.

The new contracts are scheduled to take effect from July 1, 2025, and will run through June 30, 2026.