Rizwan and Imam ul Haq set to lose Pakistan central contracts after Hesson recommends youngsters

Muhammad Rizwan and Imam ul Haq are set to lose their Pakistan Cricket Board central contracts after Pakistan's all-format head coach Mike Hesson recommended a group of young players for the PCB's 2026-27 central contracts, board sources said on November 1, 2026. The sources said Hesson's recommendations foreground several emerging names while the PCB has yet to finalise which experienced players will be retained.

According to well-informed board sources, 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. The board is still deciding on retaining the more experienced players. "Expect a few of the experienced seniors to be dropped from the central contracts list this year," the source said.

The official said Hesson has been emphasising adherence to fitness, ability to execute coaches' plans, the interest to improve skill levels and attitude in the dressing room to build solid squads across Test, ODI and T20I formats. "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.

Several established names are reported to be retained in the contracts list, including Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Sahabzada Farhan, who lead Pakistan in the three formats. The source also listed Salman Ali Agha, Saud Shakeel, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, Fakhar Zaman and Saim Ayub as set to be retained, though some of them could be confined to red- or white-ball agreements.

The PCB has delayed announcing the new central contracts after the old contracts expired on July 31. The source said the delay was intended to allow assessment of player performances in ongoing international and domestic events before finalising who deserves contracts.

Final decisions on the 2026-27 central contract list will be determined by the PCB's review of performances in those ongoing international and domestic competitions, the source said, leaving the retention or release of several senior players pending.