Babar, Shaheen, and Rizwan fail to impress PCB, 30 players awarded contracts
Abdul Jabbar Faisal
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has awarded central contracts to 30 male cricketers for the upcoming 2025-26 international season, as trio Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi, and Mohammad Rizwan bounded in Category B, as they were in the A category last year.
According to PCB, the contracts will be effective from July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026, reflect the Board’s continued commitment to recognising and supporting national talent. This year’s roster sees 10 players each placed in Categories B, C, and D. Notably, no player has been selected for Category A in this cycle.
Compared to last year’s list of 27 contracted players, the PCB has expanded the pool to 30, including 12 fresh additions, highlighting the emergence of promising new talent and the Board’s strategic focus on squad depth and future development.
The new entrants are: 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.
Name of five promoted players: Abrar Ahmed, Haris Rauf, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha and Shadab Khan – all promoted from C to B category.
Nine players retained positions: Abdullah Shafique (Category C): Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Wasim Jnr – all in Category D, Noman Ali, Sajid Khan, Saud Shakeel: all in Category C, Fakhar Zaman and Shaheen Shah Afridi – both in Category B.
Eight players have missed out: Aamir Jamal, Haseebullah, Kamran Ghulam, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Huraira, Mohammad Irfan Khan and Usman Khan – all in Category (D).
List of this year’s centrally contacted players:
Category B (10 players): 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 (10 players): Abdullah Shafique, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Nawaz, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Noman Ali, Sahibzada Farhan, Sajid Khan and Saud Shakeel
Category D (10 players): Ahmed Daniyal, Hussain Talat, Khurram Shahzad, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Salman Mirza, Shan Masood and Sufyan Moqim
