The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has decided to overhaul the player central contract system for the Pakistan cricket team. On June 15 in Lahore, PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi, PCB Chief Operating Officer (COO) Sumair Ahmed Syed, and Director of High-Performance Aaqib Javed addressed the media and announced the change ahead of the 2026-27 cycle.
Pakistan’s new central contract system
The PCB is replacing the traditional category-based grading system with a format-specific model. Naqvi revealed that contracts will be assigned depending on fitness, mandatory domestic participation and format-specific performance. Instead of four, there will be five categories going forward.
“We have prepared a system where 85 per cent of the contract criteria will be data-driven, while the remaining 15 per cent will be at the discretion of the selection committee,” he said. “There were cases where players at the domestic level were not receiving fair recognition. We hope this entire process will now be transparent, and there should be little room for objections regarding how contracts are awarded,” he stated.
AB will be the premier category. Players who represent Pakistan in Test and ODI cricket will be awarded. If a cricketer included in the category gets selected for T20I cricket, the contract won’t be reclassified. Test specialists will come next. They’ll be contracted under the A category. In a bid to prioritise red-ball cricket, the PCB wants to award first-class and Test cricketers.
The BC category will be for white-ball players, ODIs and T20Is. For only T20 specialists, franchise leagues and international cricket, a C contract will be awarded. This will allow the players to work on their game by featuring in foreign tournaments and representing Pakistan in the shortest format.
PCB has launched a development category for emerging players. In alignment with the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Lahore, these up-and-coming players will be awarded a D contract.
PCB’s new Pakistan central player contract structure
- Category AB – Test and ODI players
- Category A – Test players
- Category BC – ODI and T20I players
- Category C – T20I and league players
- Category D – Emerging players
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