Former skipper Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan dropped to Category B on the latest central contract list unveiled by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Tuesday.

Babar and Rizwan were the only players in Category A for the 2024-25 period, but were demoted to Category B as PCB decided not to slot in any players in the top bracket for the 2025-26 period.

Meanwhile, Abrar Ahmed, Haris Rauf, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha and Shadab Khan were upgraded to Category B for performing admirably over the last 12 months.

In total, 30 players earned a central contract for the year that commenced on July 1, 2025. Moreover, as many as 12 players were added to the contract list for the first time.

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 Afridi.

Category C (10 players): Abdullah Shafique, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Nawaz, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Noman Ali, Sahibzada Farhan, Sajid Khan, 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, Sufyan Moqim.