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The Pakistan National Cricket Team recently won the tri-series, which included England and Sri Lanka. They defeated Sri Lanka in the final by 3 wickets. Soon after the tri-series, there have been reports that head coach Mike Hesson has suggested some young names to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for 2026-27 central contracts. However, the PCB has not named the central contracts.
The Men in Green side has been in decent form in the ODIs. After losing the home series against Bangladesh, they came back strong in the tri-series as they lost just one game and displayed their best cricket under the leadership of Shaheen Shah Afridi. However, the performance of some senior players has been called into question.
New players in PCB's central contract
As per reports from NDTV, Mike Hesson has suggested that Arafat Minhas, Saad Baig, Hasan Nawaz, Akif Javed, Ali Reza, Ahsan Daniyal, Sufiyan Muqeem, Maaz Sadaqat, Razaullah, Azan Avais, Imran Randhawa, Abdullah Fazal and Ghazi Ghori will all be included in the new central contracts. Saad Baig and Arafat Minhas performed amazingly in the tri-series. Baig played a solid knock in the final.
However, there has been no confirmation on the central contracts for the new players and also for the experienced players, who are already part of the contracts. The upcoming players bring in more energy and play aggressive cricket without any outside pressure. This has been the reason that Mike Hesson has been emphasising keeping the young players.
Mohammad Rizwan and Imam-ul-Haq to lose PCB contract
As per the same report, the source states that two senior Pakistani cricketers, Mohammad Rizwan and Imam-ul-Haq, will not be given central contracts. The two have been in and out of the team, are not in their best form in ODI cricket, and have also been dropped from the ODI and T20I squads. This might be a nail in the coffin for the above-named cricketers.
“Expect a few of the experienced seniors to be dropped from the central contracts list this year,” the source said. “Hesson is keen that the youngsters who have shown potential and the ability to bring value to the dressing room and team must be rewarded and encouraged with good central contracts,” the source added.
The captains of the Pakistan side in the three formats, Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Sahabzada Farhan, are set to retain their contracts. Apart from them, Salman Ali Agha, Saud Shakeel, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, Fakhar Zaman and Saim Ayub are also set to be retained in the contracts. Ayub’s retention can be questioned given his form.
Pakistan set to announce central contracts in a few days
There will be some contracts that will be only for the red-ball or white-ball formats. The PCB has thus delayed announcing the new central contracts after the old contracts expired on July 31. Mohsin Naqvi and chief selector Aaqib Javed will look into the matter carefully with the ODI World Cup next year.
Pakistan will next be up against Sri Lanka in a two-match Test series. This is a crucial series despite the fact that they are at the bottom of the WTC table.
