Pakistan is a cricket-crazy nation, with a massive fan following for their national team. Over the years, the country has produced some of the finest cricketers who have earned a huge reputation on the international stage.
Their national cricket body, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), is always on the lookout for finding the best talent in the country. And players also toil hard in domestic tournaments and international matches to earn the coveted central contracts from PCB.
In this article, we’ll list the Pakistani cricketers with central contracts and their salaries.
Pakistan Cricketers Central Contracts Categories and Salaries
All the contracted players have been split across four categories. They are as follows:
Category A
Players in the top category will earn PKR 4.5 million per month (approximately $15,900 or INR 13.14 lakh). Their salary has been hiked by a whopping 202 percent.
Unfortunately, none of the current Pakistani players have earned a Category A contract for the 2025-26 season. The PCB cited poor performance for not handing a Category A contract this season.
Last season, Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan were part of this salary band. But they no longer feature in it. Rather, they have been dropped down by a category.
The following Pakistani cricketers fall under Category A contracts:
Not given to any player!
Category B
Players in Category B will take home PKR 3 million per month (approximately $10,000 or INR 8.76 lakh). These players will enjoy a salary hike of 144 percent.
Fakhar Zaman and Hasan Ali are new entrants in Category B. And five players have earned promotion from C to B.
The following Pakistani cricketers are part of Category B contracts:
Abrar Ahmed (promoted)
Babar Azam (demoted)
Fakhar Zaman (new)
Haris Rauf (promoted)
Hasan Ali (new)
Mohammad Rizwan (demoted)
Saim Ayub (promoted)
Salman Ali Agha (promoted)
Shadab Khan (promoted)
Shaheen Shah Afridi (retained)
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Category C
Those placed in Category C will receive PKR 1.5 million per month (approximately $5,300 or INR 4.38 lakh). Their salaries have seen a boost of 135 percent.
Five players have earned fresh contracts this season, with PCB placing them in Category C. Four have retained their spots, while Naseem Shah has been dropped down from B to C.
The following Pakistani cricketers fall under Category C contracts:
Abdullah Shafique (retained)
Faheem Ashraf (new)
Hasan Nawaz (new)
Mohammad Haris (new)
Mohammad Nawaz (new)
Naseem Shah (demoted)
Noman Ali (retained)
Sahibzada Farhan (new)
Sajid Khan (retained)
Saud Shakeel (retained)
Category D
Finally, the players who are part of Category D will fetch PKR 0.75 million per month (approximately $2650 or INR 2.19 lakh).
The last category sees six fresh new faces. Surprisingly, Shan Masood has taken a big hit, moving from B to D, despite being Pakistan’s Test skipper.
The following Pakistani cricketers come under Category D contracts:
Ahmed Daniyal (new)
Hussain Talat (new)
Khurram Shahzad (retained)
Khushdil Shah (new)
Mohammad Abbas (new)
Mohammad Abbas Afridi (retained)
Mohammad Wasim jr (retained)
Salman Mirza (new)
Shan Masood (demoted)
Sufyan Muqim (new)
Pakistan Cricketers Match Fees
Apart from their central contracts, PCB also increased the match fees for all three formats. The match fees saw a 50 percent rise for Tests, a 25 percent increase for ODIs, and a 12.5 percent hike for T20Is.
Now, the Pakistani players will bag PKR 1.25 million (approximately $4,358) per Test match. For an ODI match, they will earn PKR 6,44,620 ($2,247). While for a T20I match, they will receive PKR 4,18,584 ($1459).
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