PCB Announces Central Contracts for 2025-26

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) revealed the central contracts for 30 male cricketers on Tuesday. This year’s structure differs, with no players designated in category A.

The PCB indicated a departure from prior years by not including any player in Category A. Instead, the players are distributed with ten individuals in each of categories B, C, and D.

The player pool has grown to 30, up from 27 the previous year, with 12 emerging names included for the first time.

The new additions encompass 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.

Due to stellar performances last season, five players earned promotions. Abrar Ahmed, Haris Rauf, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, and Shadab Khan were all upgraded from category C to category B.

Nine players have held their positions, including Abdullah Shafique in category C, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, and Mohammad Wasim Jnr in category D.

Noman Ali, Sajid Khan, and Saud Shakeel stay in Category C, while Shaheen Shah Afridi remains in category B.

It’s worth noting that eight players from last year’s contracts were not included this time.

Aamir Jamal, Haseebullah, Kamran Ghulam, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Huraira, Muhammad Irfan Khan, and Usman Khan, all previously in Category D, were not awarded contracts this year.

The contracts will be valid from July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026.

The list of centrally contracted players for 2025–26 is as follows:

Category B:

Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Rizwan, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shadab Khan, and Shaheen Shah Afridi.

Category C:

Abdullah Shafique, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Nawaz, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Noman Ali, Sahibzada Farhan, Sajid Khan, and Saud Shakeel.

Category D:

Ahmed Daniyal, Hussain Talat, Khurram Shahzad, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Salman Mirza, Shan Masood, and Sufyan Moqim.

Excluded from contracts: Aamir, Haseebullah, Kamran, Hamza, Ali, Huraira, Irfan and Usman