The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has unveiled its central contracts for the 2025–26 season, bringing major changes to player categories. Two of the country’s most prominent cricketers, Mohammad Rizwan and former captain Babar Azam, who were previously placed in Category A, have now been shifted down to Category B. Shan Masood, who was earlier in Category B, has been pushed further down to Category D.
According to the announcement made on Tuesday, a total of 30 cricketers have been awarded PCB central contracts for the upcoming season. The new contracts will remain valid from July 1, 2025, until June 30, 2026. Interestingly, this year no player has been placed in Category A. Instead, the contracts have been divided equally, with 10 players each in Categories B, C, and D.
The Board has expanded the pool of contracted players compared to last year. While 27 players had contracts in 2024–25, the new list has 30 names. Among them, 12 are fresh inclusions: 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.
Five players have earned promotions due to their performances in the past year. Abrar Ahmed, Haris Rauf, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, and Shadab Khan have all been elevated from Category C to Category B.
Nine cricketers have maintained their positions without any changes. These include Abdullah Shafique, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Noman Ali, Sajid Khan, Saud Shakeel, and star pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi.
On the other hand, eight players have been dropped from the central contracts this year. Those left out are Aamir Jamal, Haseebullah, Kamran Ghulam, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Huraira, Muhammad Irfan Khan, and Usman Khan. All of them were previously part of Category D.
The final list places Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Haris Rauf, Fakhar Zaman, Hasan Ali, Salman Ali Agha, Saim Ayub, and Abrar Ahmed in Category B.
Category C includes Abdullah Shafique, Saud Shakeel, Naseem Shah, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Haris, Sajid Khan, Noman Ali, Sahibzada Farhan, Hasan Nawaz, and Faheem Ashraf.
Meanwhile, Category D features Ahmed Daniyal, Shan Masood, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Salman Mirza, and Sufyan Moqim.
With these sweeping changes, the PCB central contracts have once again reshaped the status of top and emerging players. While senior stars like Babar and Rizwan faced demotions, new faces have been given opportunities to showcase their talent under the Board’s revamped structure.