Chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Mohsin Naqvi announced on Monday that the selection committee will hold discretion over just 15 percent of central contract decisions, with the remaining 85 percent determined by data, as the board unveiled a sweeping overhaul of its player contracting system.
Naqvi made the announcement at a press conference alongside white-ball head coach Mike Hesson, national selector and Director of High Performance Aqib Javed, and other senior board officials.
“We have prepared a system where 85 percent of the contract criteria will be data-driven, while the remaining 15 percent will be at the discretion of the selection committee,” he said, adding that the new approach directly addresses concerns about the evaluation of domestic players.
“There were cases where players at the domestic level were not receiving fair recognition. We hope this entire process will now be transparent, and there should be little room for objections regarding how contracts are awarded,” he stated.
He also confirmed that medical fitness remains a mandatory requirement for any player seeking a central contract.
The new framework replaces the traditional A, B, C and D categories with five format tracks.
Track AB covers Pakistan’s premier multi-format players who feature in both Test and ODI cricket. Track A is for red-ball specialists, who will receive additional incentives and permission to play overseas first-class competitions.
Track BC covers core white-ball players in the ODI and T20I setup. Track C is for T20 specialists and franchise players with greater flexibility around national commitments.
Track D is a development category for emerging cricketers coming through the National Cricket Academy and domestic pathway.
The PCB described the model as a first-of-its-kind structure in international cricket, with players assessed only against others within the same format track rather than across all formats collectively.
