The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) recently updated its central contracts, reducing Shaheen Shah Afridi from Category A to Category B, leaving Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan as the sole players in the top category. This reshuffle has led to some key players, including Fakhar Zaman, Sarfaraz Ahmed, and Hasan Ali, being excluded from the 12-month contract list altogether.
This change follows the team’s disappointing exit from the 2024 T20 World Cup, where they missed the Super 8 stage. PCB’s revamped one-year contract structure, introduced in July, now incorporates quarterly fitness checks and mandates domestic match participation. Shaheen’s downgrade comes shortly after he and Babar were “rested” for two matches in Pakistan’s recent Test series against England, where they struggled in the opening game.
The updated contracts offer Category A players a monthly payment of Rs 4.5 million, while players in Category B will receive Rs 3 million. Categories C and D players are set to earn between Rs 750,000 and Rs 1.5 million per month.
A number of young talents, such as Khurram Shahzad and Mohammad Abbas Afridi, have been awarded central contracts for the first time. Meanwhile, former contract holders like Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, and Osama Mir face re-assessment for potential re-entry, having reportedly fallen short on recent fitness evaluations.
PCB reveals central contracts for 2025-26:
- Category A: Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan
- Category B: Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood
- Category C: Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Haris Rauf, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Sajid Khan, Salman Ali Agha, Saud Shakeel, Shadab Khan
- Category D: Aamir Jamal, Haseebullah, Kamran Ghulam, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Hurraira, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Usman Khan
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