PCB New Central Contract Rules: Domestic Cricket Mandatory
PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi confirmed on June 13 that players who do not play domestic cricket will no longer be eligible for central contracts or national team selection.
He also revealed that a computer-based system, already covering around 85 percent of the selection process, is being introduced to decide who gets picked.
What Are PCB’s Major Contract Changes?
New contract categories: Test, ODI, T20I, and a newly created Emerging Players category. Players can hold both Test and ODI status at the same time.
Three requirements to stay in the system: fitness, domestic cricket participation, and performance.
Selection process: Naqvi said around 85 percent of selection has already been moved away from manual decision-making, with the committee now working from a 15-point assessment framework.
Match fees: Set to increase across Test, ODI, and T20 cricket, and domestic match fees will rise too.
Captaincy: Naqvi said captaincy decisions sit with a group of selectors and cricketers, and that he does not want to control selection directly. He is also meeting former captain Younis Khan to bring more ex-cricketers into the decision-making process.
The board had said something similar last year, but Naqvi admitted it was unclear which players were actually meeting the domestic requirement. This time, he framed it as a rule that will actually be enforced.
Could This Bring Babar and Rizwan Back?
Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan were both moved from Category A to Category B in the 2025-26 contract list. Salman Ali Agha lost the T20I captaincy after the World Cup exit and it went to Sahibzada Farhan, who had just finished that tournament as the leading run-scorer with 383 runs, alongside an Asian Games squad built around four T20I debutants.
None of that was explained as policy at the time. It looked like individual decisions. Naqvi’s comments suggest it was the new system already running quietly, months before anyone called it one.
What to Watch Next
The real test is the next central contract list. If players who skipped domestic cricket this season still appear on it, nothing has changed. If they do not, this is the first time PCB’s stated policy and its actual decisions have matched up in years.
Source: Samaa TV, June 13, 2026
