PCB Breaks Silence On Possible Captaincy Changes After 'Contract' Shocker
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) finally broke its silence on reports claiming that Shan Masood will be removed as Test captain and Mohammad Rizwan may end up losing the ODI captaincy.
- Shan Masood will remain Pakistan Test captain, PCB denied removal reports
- Mohammad Rizwan retains ODI captaincy, no decision to replace him announced
- No player was awarded Category A central contract by PCB for 2025-26 season
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) finally broke its silence on reports claiming that Shan Masood would be removed as Test captain and Mohammad Rizwan might lose the ODI captaincy. According to Geo Super, the PCB called those reports baseless and said that no such decision has been taken. The report claimed that PCB sources had confirmed that there had been no discussions over replacing Shan Masood with Saud Shakeel. There were also reports that Salman Ali Agha could replace Rizwan as the ODI captain after the veteran cricketer was not included in the Asia Cup 2025 squad.
Earlier, Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan were downgraded to Category 'B' in the latest list of central contracts released by the PCB. The board, in fact, did not find any cricketer fit to be in the elite category and placed 30 players in Categories 'B', 'C', and 'D'.
"The contracts, effective from July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026, reflect the Board's continued commitment to recognizing and supporting national talent. This year's roster sees ten players each placed in Categories B, C, and D. Notably, no player has been selected for Category A in this cycle," the PCB stated in a media release.
The PCB release did not mention the valuation of the contracts.
Babar and Rizwan were penalized for their consistently poor show across all marquee events, including last year's T20 World Cup, this year's ICC Champions Trophy, and the bilaterals against Bangladesh and the West Indies.
T20 skipper Salman Ali Agha, on the other hand, earned a promotion from Category C to B. The other notable promotions were opener Saim Ayub and pacer Haris Rauf.
Compared to last year's list of 27 contracted players, the PCB expanded the pool to 30, including 12 fresh additions.
The new entrants were Ahmed Daniyal, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Nawaz, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Mirza, and Sufyan Moqim.
Additionally, nine players retained their positions in the same categories.
(With IANS inputs)
Babar Azam
Shan Masood
Saud Shakeel
Agha Salman
Pakistan Cricket Team
Pakistan Cricket Board
Cricket