Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan and Shaheen Shah Afridi relegated to category B as Pakistan Men’s Central Contracts announced for 2025-26 season

[BouncerGuy]

Men’s Central Contracts announced for 2025-26 international season

• Thirty cricketers awarded contracts; 12 new entrants this year

• Five players promoted to higher categories; 10 players each in Category B, C and D

Lahore, 19 August 2025:

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has awarded central contracts to 30 male cricketers for the upcoming 2025–26 international season. The contracts, 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 ten 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.

Five players have been promoted owing to their last year's performances. They are: Abrar Ahmed, Haris Rauf, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha and Shadab Khan – all promoted from C to B category.

Additionally, nine players have retained their positions in the same categories. They are:
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 and Shaheen Shah Afridi (Category B).

Eight players have missed out on contracts this year. They are:
Aamir Jamal, Haseebullah, Kamran Ghulam, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Huraira, Muhammad 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

PCB

 

[DeadlyVenom]

Looks like Amir Jamaal, Kamran Ghulam and Usman Khan are completely out of the picture. These players should be players that could feature over the next year in some capacity so I'm disappointed for them.

Hurraira also was touted as the next big thing but no contract after failing on matches on complete lottery pitches.

I would like some of these players to figure more in Pakistan plans than players like Mohammed Nawaz,Faheem, Mohammed Abbas and Hasan Ali. No need to give these players contracts. Just pick them if you need them.

 

[BouncerGuy]

Looks like Amir Jamaal, Kamran Ghulam and Usman Khan are completely out of the picture. These players should be players that could feature over the next year in some capacity so I'm disappointed for them.

Hurraira also was touted as the next big thing but no contract after failing on matches on complete lottery pitches.

I would like some of these players to figure more in Pakistan plans than players like Mohammed Nawaz,Faheem, Mohammed Abbas and Hasan Ali. No need to give these players contracts. Just pick them if you need them.

CAN pcb explain why Shadab has been promoted... HOW???

WHY???? What has he done?

 

[DeadlyVenom]

CAN pcb explain why Shadab has been promoted... HOW???

WHY???? What has he done?

Shadab will be back into the side after his injury recovery.

 

[Hellion]

CAN pcb explain why Shadab has been promoted... HOW???

WHY???? What has he done?

Shadab promotion and Abdullah retention are most dodgy.

 

[BouncerGuy]

Shadab will be back into the side after his injury recovery.

TBH he should not... Or if it is too necessary, he can replace guys like Khushdil or hussain talat... But he should never be preferered over sufiyan or abrar as a bowler.

 

[Sachin fan]

It takes lots of guts to downgrade Babar and Rizwan and not have a single player in A, well done PCB

 

[Savak]

It takes lots of guts to downgrade Babar and Rizwan and not have a single player in , well done PCB

They should have been downgraded to C or D. These players need a huge kick up their backsides and a reminder that their positions in the team are not automatic.

 

[Mamoon]

Rauf and Shadab promoted because?

 

[BouncerGuy]

Rauf and Shadab promoted because?

Because they have a huge name in pakistan cricket. No performance.

 

[Energy]

No performance comes to mind when looking at promotions for Shadab and Haris. None cricketing.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

It takes lots of guts to downgrade Babar and Rizwan and not have a single player in A, well done PCB

You can say to downgrade Babar and Rizwan takes guts but not having a single category A player is just PCB throwing the players under the bus and trying to hide behind their mismanagement.

They have uprooted coaches and selectors, changed pitches, interfered in all areas of cricket but are dumping all of the blame on the players.

It is not a good sign when the board feels that none of its players are good enough to earn the top contract. And whatever you may think of Shan Masood himself, having the test captain in at Cat D clearly shows the importance PCB places on this format.

 

[Savak]

You can say to downgrade Babar and Rizwan takes guts but not having a single category A player is just PCB throwing the players under the bus and trying to hide behind their mismanagement.

They have uprooted coaches and selectors, changed pitches, interfered in all areas of cricket but are dumping all of the blame on the players.

It is not a good sign when the board feels that none of its players are good enough to earn the top contract. And whatever you may think of Shan Masood himself, having the test captain in at Cat D clearly shows the importance PCB places on this format.

Players have to perform on the field. They live and die by results. Pakistani players are the luckiest in the world where the team is languishing in the bottom of the rankings in all formats but these players keep getting picked again and again inspite of zero performances for a long time. Our key players have lived off their past performances for far too long.

Had they been under the Australian, English or even Indian Cricket Board, they would have been shown the door with their contracts terminated a long time ago with instructions to play domestic cricket and to re earn their spots in the team.

Regardless of the PCB management and administration, the players job is to work hard and perform on the field.

 

[Asad T]

How can you not have ANY cat A players? Why not just push everyone up 1 notch? Either the PCB is being stingy as hell or they are trying to cement discontent in players.

Or they are saying that there are no good pak players lol

 

[mominsaigol]

Where is category A

 

[Hellion]

What is the point of having a category with no one in it?

 

[mominsaigol]

What is the point of having a category with no one in it?

We need one for PP

 

[RidiculousMan]

Lol. How can there be a B category if there's no A? PCB is really dumb.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

Players have to perform on the field. They live and die by results. Pakistani players are the luckiest in the world where the team is languishing in the bottom of the rankings in all formats but these players keep getting picked again and again inspite of zero performances for a long time. Our key players have lived off their past performances for far too long.

Had they been under the Australian, English or even Indian Cricket Board, they would have been shown the door with their contracts terminated a long time ago with instructions to play domestic cricket and to re earn their spots in the team.

Regardless of the PCB management and administration, the players job is to work hard and perform on the field.

It just reminds me of subcontinental type of behavior change, they give a dhanda occasionally and congratulate themselves to say look how we showed those ingrates.

Situation could be managed a lot better. Recognise the problems of the past and the failures but work with players saying it is a fresh start and we want XYZ from you next year. No other board would completely scrap a category. What message does it send about the boards trust in the players abilities and capabilities?

 

[RidiculousMan]

What is the point of having a category with no one in it?

This is what happens when people in state or govt. admin positions get selected on connections over merit.

 

[Rana]

Where is category A

Mazza Aa gaya waise

 

[Usman Chadda]

Lol. How can there be a B category if there's no A? PCB is really dumb.

This is just to prove a point, it's quite obvious

 

[Rana]

This is just to prove a point, it's quite obvious

They should have placed Agha in cat A just to rub it in!

 

[mominsaigol]

Mazza Aa gaya waise

In order to justify babar and rizzu getting a demotion, lets give everyone a demotion

 

[DeadlyVenom]

Pakistan cricket moves so fast and randomly that not even 2 years since our test in Aus


This guy loses his central contract and has dissapeared from the face of the earth ( yes performances havent been amazing but he should be in the mix)


and this guy has a central contract

 

[Rana]

I think they should also send a legal notice to Babar and Rizwan for conning PCB with Cat A demands but producing Cat F performances

 

[DeadlyVenom]

They should have placed Agha in cat A just to rub it in!

Agha, Saim and Shaheen should probably be in CAT A

 

[RidiculousMan]

Pakistan cricket moves so fast and randomly that not even 2 years since our test in Aus

View attachment 156998
This guy loses his central contract and has dissapeared from the face of the earth ( yes performances havent been amazing but he should be in the mix)


and this guy has a central contract

View attachment 156999

It is all politics. Always has been.

 

[Rana]

Agha, Saim and Shaheen should probably be in CAT A

100% agree

 

[RidiculousMan]

Agha, Saim and Shaheen should probably be in CAT A

Shaheen definitely deserves it. He is your premier pacer in all formats. I know he was out for Test for the moment but he will be back.

 

[Rana]

Bohot afsos hua Babar aur Rizwan ka…

 

[Aqib_mustafa]

They have been removed fron the pcb contract list and looks like they are not even in pcb plans from now on this is the reason why pakistan is in this state when deserving players get this type of treatment from pcb really sad to see this.

 

[Aqib_mustafa]

Bohot afsos hua Babar aur Rizwan ka…

Rana sahab is it over for kamran ghulam and aamir jamal or they might be back for test matches?

 

[Rana]

Every day I wake up and see a new humiliation unfold for Babar and Rizwan.

Roz utho, nahao, Zaleel ho jao, so jao. Repeat.

 

[Mesozoic]

Your Test Captain is in category D?

 

[Rana]

Rana sahab is it over for kamran ghulam and aamir jamal or they might be back for test matches?

It’s never over.

Will find out what the issue is with Kamran Ghulam. I sensed Aamer Jamal was in a weird state of mind recently and must be going things to annoy people. Not sure what Kamran might have done though.

 

[mominsaigol]

Kg is being mistreated 200%

 

[Rana]

Your Test Captain is in category D?

I think that signals he won’t be the Test captain anymore.

 

[Rana]

Babar and Rizwan every day these days….

 

[Aqib_mustafa]

Kg is being mistreated 200%

But why bro someone has to ask this to ocb

 

[Rana]

Making Rizwan the white ball captain was a bad decision

 

[Savak]

Pakistan cricket moves so fast and randomly that not even 2 years since our test in Aus

View attachment 156998
This guy loses his central contract and has dissapeared from the face of the earth ( yes performances havent been amazing but he should be in the mix)


and this guy has a central contract

View attachment 156999

Let's be honest, the guy is paying the price in PDM Establishment controlled Pakistan for openly supporting IK. He fell out of favour with the PCB since wearing the hat with the number 804 on it.

 

[Savak]

What is the point of having a category with no one in it?

To send a message to the players that their recent performances are not good enough and no one deserves the top grade.

 

[Aqib_mustafa]

Let's be honest, the guy is paying the price in PDM Establishment controlled Pakistan for openly supporting IK. He fell out of favour with the PCB since wearing the hat with the number 804 on it.

So he is not part of the test team now or is it possible he will be back for test matches?

 

[Savak]

So he is not part of the test team now or is it possible he will be back for test matches?

If he was in the PCB plans, they would have offered him a domestic contract. He will have to perform in domestic cricket again to put pressure on the selectors.

 

[Rana]

To send a message to the players that their recent performances are not good enough and no one deserves the top grade.

Hopefully the message is received by Babar and Rizwan as an insult,

And they decide to retire!

 

[Rana]

Let's be honest, the guy is paying the price in PDM Establishment controlled Pakistan for openly supporting IK. He fell out of favour with the PCB since wearing the hat with the number 804 on it.

Yeah I mean he was bowling like Hazlewood and batting like Marsh….but 804 put him out of favour

 

[Ball Blazer]

It means the game is not yet over for Babar n Rizwan

 

[Rana]

It means the game is not yet over for Babar n Rizwan

I mean… it’s very hard to remove guys in Cat A to no contract at all the next year

 

[shariqnoor]

Ahmed Daniyal with 2 T20I caps gets a central contract. Incredible. Does this mean he will feature a lot in the upcoming year otherwise why would you give a central contract?

 

[zahid01]

This is bizarre no players in category A this is how you demoralised players

 

[zaidihusain]

Decision to demote Babar & Rizwan is the best, Category A contract must be earned by players with big performances against big teams in big tournament. I don't mind even if Category A category remains vacant.

At the same time Rauf, Shadab, Hasan Ali should be in Category C or D.

Shan Masood should have been in C

 

[mominsaigol]

Hopefully the message is received by Babar and Rizwan as an insult,

And they decide to retire!

Its a victory. We have destroyed the A category for good

 

[zaidihusain]

Totally Unfair to drop Amir Jamal, Mir Hamza, KG from contract.

What Wasim Jnr is doing in D ? In any case he will not be selected in playing 11, he will keep warming bench for next 1-2 years and will be dropped thereafter

 

[Rana]

Its a victory. We have destroyed the A category for good

2025 will be the year of Babar Azam

 

[Snowflake]

Agha, Saim and Shaheen should probably be in CAT A

Shaheen?! Lol

Guy is lucky to be in Cat B. Please take a look at his performances in the last couple years - especially in ICC tournaments.

 

[amvbfm]

A bowler who played 7 games and bowled a grand total of 32 overs during the last year gets a direct entry to Category B
A batsman who made 522 runs @ 29 in 16 games (some of those on low scoring dustbowls) was totally excluded
The test captain has been relegated to category D
And a few others make the criteria highly questionable.

 

[Snowflake]

Some good decision like:

• Babar and Rizwan getting demoted
• Shaheen and Naseem getting demoted
• I also think it is perfectly fine to start with Category B. It only confirm that there is a higher category and a chance to earn a higher salary but none of the players' have the merit for it

Few shockers:

• How is Hassan Ali in the same category as Shaheen/Rauf/Babar/Rizwan?
• What have Rauf and Shadab done to get promoted?
• Test captain in category D?
• Aamer Jamal and KG entirely omitted - have they been that bad?

 

[topspin]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1957733777339273288

Why is my timeline feed filled with tweets like this?

@mominsaigol @shaz619 @topspin

I wouldn't be surprised if this was a Babar manufactured bot account. Freshies are so cringeworthy - this is why I stopped following anything related to cricket on X.

 

[Obaidd]

Category A: Mohsin Naqvi, Sumair Syed, Amir Mir, Bilal Afzal

 

[Obaidd]

A bowler who played 7 games and bowled a grand total of 32 overs during the last year gets a direct entry to Category B
A batsman who made 522 runs @ 29 in 16 games (some of those on low scoring dustbowls) was totally excluded
The test captain has been relegated to category D
And a few others make the criteria highly questionable.

Shan Masood and Ahmed Daniyal in same category according to PCB

 

[DeadlyVenom]

Shaheen?! Lol

Guy is lucky to be in Cat B. Please take a look at his performances in the last couple years - especially in ICC tournaments.

He has been very poor but is key to our success in this current cycle. He has been hampered by injuries and also the captaincy being snatched away. We should try to rebuild his confidence.

 

[Snowflake]

He has been very poor but is key to our success in this current cycle. He has been hampered by injuries and also the captaincy being snatched away. We should try to rebuild his confidence.

Hampered by injuries is his own fault. He does not believe in workload management and wants to play everything.

Captaincy isn't a right, it's a privilege. If he throws his toys out the pram for that, then all the more reason to punish him.

Shaheen is very immature and comes across as petty and toxic too.

 

[Obaidd]

We don’t have any Category A players only Category A management.

 

[ads101]

Test captain in category d lol. Ridiculous. They want the test captain to command respect and then PCB treating him like this. Sack him and get someone else as captain if that’s how little they think of him.

Shadab shouldn’t be b if he’s not even in the squads. I still think they’re attached to the idea of him becoming future captain. How can he be higher than say saud who is at least crushing it in one format.

I don’t mind them taking away category a. Though I might have been tempted to give it to Salman Agha.

 

[Rana]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1957776821161705866

 

[Energy]

Now we can say that officially Shadab Khan and Haris Rauf are Pakistan's most valuable players.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

Guys please refrain from personal jibes

 

[DeadlyVenom]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1957776821161705866

He has been hard done by, his performances haven't been great but he has tremendous spirit and grit. His ceiling is quite high, he should t be left in the wilderness and if you look at the central contract list he is better than most players. Guys like him who have fought tooth and nail to get near the Pakistan team need to be encouraged and supported.

 

[The_KING]

What the hell have Shadab and Rauf done to earn a promotion? They shouldn't even have a central contract.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

Guys please refrain from personal jibes

To senior posters here, please don't force us to take actions regarding account restrictions. Please behave like veterans which you all are

 

[Rana]

To senior posters here, please don't force us to take actions regarding account restrictions. Please behave like veterans which you all are

We respect that. We will behave like veterans. But how is their any ounce of tolerance towards clear cut racism?

 

[The Bald Eagle]

We respect that. We will behave like veterans. But how is their any ounce of tolerance towards clear cut racism?

Please dear all, report such posts in future instead of starting altercations. Our staff will take appropriate actions.

 

[shaz619]

We respect that. We will behave like veterans. But how is their any ounce of tolerance towards clear cut racism?

Truly shocking, I didn’t expect that from him and very seldom get him to a point where that was needed, I don’t really say much to 2000’s posters.

We should have zero tolerance towards racism.

 

[Ball Blazer]

These eight players, who were part of Category D in last year’s central contracts, have missed out this time.

Do you think any of them should have been retained?

 

[AZulfi]

How is pathetic Rauf in Category B? He should stick to tape ball cricket.

 

[AZulfi]

Kamran Ghulam and Aamir Jamal deserve another chance.

Usman Khan only has himself to blame; did not make the most of the opportunity that he was given

 

[Rana]

Kamran Ghulam and Aamir Jamal deserve another chance.

Usman Khan only has himself to blame; did not make the most of the opportunity that he was given

How many games did Usman play at home in Pakistan conditions?

 

[AZulfi]

How many games did Usman play at home in Pakistan conditions?

How is that even relevant or important?

 

[Rana]

How is that even relevant or important?

How is it not? You picked a player because he impressed you in particular conditions

How can you say “he only has himself to blame” when the player didn’t even get a proper chance on those conditions where he impressed you in the first place??