The PCB have announced central contracts for the Pakistan men's team, awarding five contracts to emerging cricketers in a 25-player pool.
Last year, the board had confirmed three-year central contacts with senior players, slated to run from July 1 2023 to June 30, 2026. In the new contracts, effective from July 1, 2024 and announced a day after Pakistan's Test series win over England, Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan retain their Category A benefits. Shaheen Shah Afridi has been demoted to category B.
Additionally, for the first time, five emerging players have been awarded a central contract: Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Ali, Muhammad Irfan Khan and Usman Khan.
A host of senior players haven't earned annual central contracts, including Hasan Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed and Sarfaraz Ahmed.
PCB's central contracts for 2024/25
Category A (2): Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan
Category B (3): Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Shan Masood
Category C (9): Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Haris Rauf, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Sajid Khan, Salman Ali Agha, Saud Shakeel and Shadab Khan
Category D (11): Aamir Jamal, Haseebullah, Kamran Ghulam, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Hurraira, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Mohammad Wasim Jnr and Usman Khan
PCB contracts: Who are the biggest winners and losers?
Winners
- Shan Masood has moved up from category D to B.
- Abrar Ahmed, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Sajid Khan, Salman Ali Agha and Saud Shakeel have been added to category C.
- Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Ali, Muhammad Irfan Khan and Usman Khan have earned contracts.
Losers
- Fakhar Zaman and Imam-ul-Haq, who were part of category B last year, have been omitted from the central contracts list this time.
- Shaheen Shah Afridi has been demoted from category A to category B
- Haris Rauf is down from B to C.
- Mohammad Nawaz, Hasan Ali, Shahnawaz Dahani, Faheem Ashraf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Ihsanullah, Mohammad Haris, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Usama Mir and Zaman Khan were all part of category D last year, but none have been named this time.
Follow Wisden for all cricket updates, including live scores, match stats, quizzes and more. Stay up to date with the latest cricket news, player updates, team standings, match highlights, video analysis and live match odds.
