The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has made a significant decision for the upcoming 2025-26 season, opting not to award its most prestigious Category A contracts to any Pakistan players. Notably, Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, who were the only two players in Category A last season, have been demoted to Category B.
This move reflects the board’s assessment of their recent performances, which the PCB considers unremarkable over the past 12 months
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In a reshuffle of its centrally contracted players, the PCB has increased the total number from 27 to 30, with ten players in each category. Pakistan’s Test captain Shan Masood, previously in Category B, has been moved down to Category D. Fakhar Zaman, who missed out on a central contract last year amid disciplinary issues, has been reinstated in Category B.
The decision to exclude any player from the top tier has been attributed primarily to performance metrics, with the PCB emphasizing that promotion to Category A will only occur if players demonstrate consistent excellence.
The PCB’s official statement highlighted the absence of any players in the highest contract category for this cycle. However, some players received promotions—for example, Abrar Ahmed, Saim Ayub, Haris Rauf, Salman Ali Agha, and Shadab Khan all moved up to Category B.
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Additionally, Sufiyan Muqim, Hasan Nawaz, and Mohammad Haris, who did not have central contracts last year, received their first contracts.
Several players, including Aamir Jamal, Kamran Ghulam, Mir Hamza, Irfan Khan Niazi, and Usman Khan, were dropped from the central contract list altogether. This restructuring marks the final year of the landmark three-year contract agreement between the PCB and its players, which included record pay raises and a fixed share of ICC earnings.
The contracts, backdated to July 1, 2025, will run for another 12 months, with potential revisions in the future.
Category-Wise listed players:
Category B: Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Rizwan, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi
Category C: Abdullah Shafique, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Nawaz, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Noman Ali, Sahibzada Farhan, Sajid Khan, Saud Shakeel
Category D: Ahmed Daniyal, Hussain Talat, Khurram Shahzad, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Wasim jr, Salman Mirza, Shan Masood, Sufyan Muqim