Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan demoted to B category as PCB announces annual contracts for 2025-26 season

PCB has not picked any player in the A Category.

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has released the central contracts for the 2025-26 international season. The governing body has offered central contracts to 30 Pakistan players, with the main highlight being Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan getting demoted from the elite Category A to Category B in this year’s central contracts.

Pakistan’s Cricketing body has not picked any players in Category A. They have extended the number of players to 30 from last year’s list of 27 contracted players. Moreover, there are 12 fresh additions.

T20I skipper Salman Ali Agha has earned a promotion to Category B from Category C this year. Saim Ayub and Haris Rauf have also been promoted to Category B. Moreover, nine players have retained their places in the same category.

Pakistan’s centrally contracted players for 2025-26

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.

“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,” PCB said in a media release.

Notably, 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 are the 12 new fresh additions to this year’s central contracts.

Moreover, 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 these players were part of Category D last year.

Meanwhile, Babar and Rizwan have also been snubbed from the Pakistan squad for the Asia Cup 2025. The duo were not picked in any T20I series since the start of this year. Ahead of the Asia Cup 2025, Pakistan will play a T20I Tri-Series against Afghanistan and the UAE.

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