The Pakistan Cricket Board announced its list of centrally contracted players for the 2025-26 season on Tuesday (August 19).
PCB awards zero Category A contracts for 2025-26 season
The most significant news from the board's press release on Tuesday morning was that no players have been included in the top category, Category A. Last season, only two – Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan – out of 27 totally contracted players were in Category A. This year, they have both been given Category B contracts.
The senior pair were both on Category A contracts every season since 2020-21. Babar was part of Category A ever year since 2018-19. Notably, Test skipper Shan Masood has also been demoted, from Category B to Category D. Overall, the PCB have increased the number of central contracts by three, from 27 to 30. There are 10 players each in Category B, C and D.
Mohammad Abbas returns to central contract list after five years
Among the additions, the most notable is that of 35-year-old Test quick Mohammad Abbas. Abbas last received a central contract from the PCB in 2020-21, before being dropped from the setup in August 2021. He made a comeback against South Africa on Boxing Day in 2024, and took 10 wickets across two Tests.
During his time away from the side, Abbas was active in domestic first-class cricket mainly in Pakistan and England, and recently went past the mark of 800 first-class wickets.
PCB central contracts for 2025-26, full list
| Name | Category: 2025-26 | Category: 2024-25 |
| Abrar Ahmed | B | C |
| Babar Azam | B | A |
| Fakhar Zaman | B | - |
| Haris Rauf | B | C |
| Hasan Ali | B | - |
| Mohammad Rizwan | B | A |
| Saim Ayub | B | C |
| Salman Ali Agha | B | C |
| Shadab Khan | B | C |
| Shaheen Shah Afridi | B | B |
| Abdullah Shafique | C | C |
| Faheem Ashraf | C | - |
| Hasan Nawaz | C | - |
| Mohammad Haris | C | - |
| Mohammad Nawaz | C | - |
| Naseem Shah | C | B |
| Noman Ali | C | C |
| Sahibzada Farhan | C | - |
| Sajid Khan | C | C |
| Saud Shakeel | C | C |
| Ahmed Daniyal | D | - |
| Hussain Talat | D | - |
| Khurram Shahzad | D | D |
| Khushdil Shah | D | - |
| Mohammad Abbas | D | - |
| Mohammad Abbas Afridi | D | D |
| Mohammad Wasim Jnr | D | D |
| Salman Mirza | D | - |
| Shan Masood | D | B |
| Sufyan Moqim | D | - |
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