When Babar Azam, Naseem Shah, and Shaheen Afridi—three of Pakistan cricket’s biggest stars—were dropped for the last two matches of the Test series against England, many were left wondering about the PCB’s plans for these players. With the PCB recently announcing their central contracts, there was widespread anticipation regarding significant changes. Now that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has unveiled the list, let’s discuss which players made the cut and who missed out.
Full list of Pakistan’s centrally contracted players
- 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
Babar Azam in Category A
Babar Azam secured his position in Category A of the central contract, reaffirming his status as Pakistan’s top player. Interestingly, captain Shan Masood is in a lower salary bracket, placed in Category B. Babar was dropped from the squad for the second and third Test matches against England.
New entries in the contract
Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Ali, Muhammad Irfan Khan, and Usman Khan are five players on the list who have received their first contracts from the PCB.
