Pakistan’s top cricketers are staring at a completely different pay system this year, and nobody outside the PCB boardroom seems totally sure how it will shake out. The PCB central contracts salary structure has stayed largely unchanged through the 2025–26 season, with Category B players drawing PKR 3 million a month and Category D earning PKR 1.5 million. But the board has now confirmed a bigger shake-up is coming: a format-based central contract system for 2026–27 that scraps the old A, B, C, D grading entirely. As of this week, the PCB still hasn’t released the final 2026–27 players list, even though it usually does so by the first week of August.
Background
Central contracts are how the Pakistan Cricket Board keeps its top players financially secure between series. Instead of paying cricketers only when they play a match, the PCB puts them on a fixed monthly retainer, then tops that up with match fees and a cut of ICC revenue. It’s the same basic model most major cricket boards use, and it’s meant to stop players from chasing overseas leagues just to pay the bills.
The current cycle, covering July 2025 to June 2026, handed out 30 central contracts, up from 27 the year before. What made headlines wasn’t the number, though. It was who got left out: for the first time since the PCB introduced tiered contracts, nobody made it into Category A. Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, the only two players who held Category A status the year before, both slipped down to Category B.
Details: PCB Central Contracts Salary Per Month (2025–26)
Here’s the category-wise PCB central contracts salary breakdown for the current cycle:
Category A: PKR 4.5 million per month. Nobody currently holds this tier — the PCB left it empty, citing inconsistent team performances across formats.
Category B: PKR 3 million per month. This is where Pakistan’s biggest names sit right now — Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Abrar Ahmed, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha and Hasan Ali.
Category C: PKR 2.5 million per month, up from PKR 2 million last cycle. Players here include Abdullah Shafique, Naseem Shah, Saud Shakeel, Sajid Khan, Noman Ali, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Haris, Hasan Nawaz, Sahibzada Farhan and Faheem Ashraf.
Category D: PKR 1.5 million per month, a jump from PKR 1.2 million. This tier carries the most new faces, including Ahmed Daniyal, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Abbas and Salman Mirza.
On top of the monthly retainer, players collect match fees separately. A Test appearance currently earns roughly PKR 1.25 million, an ODI brings in around PKR 645,000, and a T20I fee sits close to PKR 420,000. Contracted players also get a slice of the ICC’s broadcast revenue, layered on top of everything else.
The 2026–27 Overhaul: Central Contract PCB Salary Is About to Look Completely Different
This is the part most fans haven’t caught up on yet. In mid-June, PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi confirmed the board is dropping the traditional four-category system altogether. Starting with the cycle that began July 1, 2026, players will instead be sorted into format-specific tracks — reportedly named Track A, Track AB, Track BC, Track C and Track D — based on how much Test, ODI or T20I cricket they actually play.
Under the proposed structure, red-ball specialists on Track A could pull in a monthly retainer close to PKR 4 million. Players straddling Tests and ODIs on Tracks A and AB may see figures between PKR 4.8 million and 5 million. T20 specialists on Track C are expected to land somewhere around PKR 1.2 million to 1.5 million, while development players coming through the National Cricket Academy on Track D could get up to PKR 1 million. Test match fees are set to more than double under the new plan, moving from roughly PKR 1.5 million up toward PKR 4 million per game in some proposals, alongside performance bonuses worth up to 500 percent of the match fee for winning an ICC tournament.
There’s a catch, though. Only players who’ve featured in at least four Tests, six ODIs or six T20Is over the past 12 months will even qualify for the four senior tracks. Track D, reserved for emerging players, won’t carry that requirement.
Quotes
Speaking at the press conference where the new framework was unveiled, PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi explained the reasoning behind scrapping the old grading system: “The contracts players used to get always resulted in debates about why players were placed in a particular category. I’m confident that the process will be transparent and not in the hands of individuals.”
He added that the board wants roughly 85 percent of contract decisions driven by performance data and analytics, leaving selectors with a much smaller say than before.
Impact
This shift matters beyond just paychecks. A format-based system changes how players think about their careers. A bowler who’s brilliant in T20s but struggles in the longer format won’t be penalized for skipping Test selection anymore — he’ll simply be evaluated on his own track. That could actually encourage more players to specialize instead of stretching themselves across three formats just to chase a bigger contract.
It also puts pressure on domestic cricket. Sources close to the board say around 175 domestic players will keep their existing four-bracket salary structure, even as the international system changes completely. That’s a stark divide, and it’s already drawing criticism from players who feel domestic cricket is being left behind while the headline figures at the top keep climbing. For fans and analysts covering Pakistan cricket, the delay itself has become a story. The PCB has missed its usual early-August deadline for releasing the list, and with an Islamabad High Court stay order tied up in unrelated financial disclosure matters, there’s speculation the contracts announcement could slip further into September.
Conclusion
Pakistan cricket is entering unfamiliar territory. For years, players knew exactly where they stood Category A, B, C or D, with clear numbers attached. Now, with the format-based system rolling out and the final 2026–27 list still pending, there’s genuine uncertainty about who lands where and how much they’ll actually take home. What’s clear is that the numbers are trending upward across nearly every tier, even as the categories themselves are being torn up and rebuilt. The next official PCB announcement, expected in the coming weeks, will settle a lot of unanswered questions — including whether anyone finally reclaims that empty Category A spot.
FAQs
What is Haris Rauf’s monthly salary under his PCB central contract?
Haris Rauf currently holds a Category B central contract, which pays PKR 3 million per month under the existing 2025–26 structure. He earned this promotion after moving up from Category C, largely on the back of strong performances in white-ball cricket over the past year. On top of that monthly retainer, he also collects separate match fees for every Test, ODI and T20I he plays, plus a share of the ICC revenue pool that gets distributed among centrally contracted players.
How rich is Shoaib Akhtar, and does his wealth come from his old PCB contract?
Shoaib Akhtar’s net worth isn’t officially disclosed, and estimates from different outlets vary wildly, ranging anywhere from roughly $15 million to $25 million, or somewhere between PKR 4 billion and 7 billion depending on the source. Very little of that comes from his old PCB central contract, which paid a fraction of today’s rates back when he was Pakistan’s fastest bowler. Most of his current wealth is tied to his post-retirement career as a cricket analyst, YouTuber and media personality, along with brand endorsements and appearance fees.
What is Fakhar Zaman’s monthly salary under the PCB central contract?
Fakhar Zaman sits in Category B of the current PCB central contracts list, earning PKR 3 million per month. He returned to the central contract list this cycle after missing out the previous season, and his selection reflects his consistent form as one of Pakistan’s senior white-ball openers. Like other Category B players, his total earnings each month also depend on how many international matches he plays, since match fees are paid on top of the fixed retainer.
