Pakistan women cricketers get 50 percent increase in central contract retainers

Staff Report

LAHORE: Pakistan’s women’s cricketers will receive a 50% increase in their monthly retainers as part of the new central contracts announced by the PCB. The contracts, finalised by the women’s selection committee alongside head coach Mohammad Wasim, will run retrospectively from July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026, with the increase applying to all categories. The most notable promotion in the contracts goes to Sadia Iqbal, currently ranked No. 1 in the ICC Women’s T20I bowling rankings. She has been named in Category A, alongside Fatima Sana, Muneeba Ali and Sidra Amin. Fast bowler Diana Baig and offspinner Rameen Shamim, meanwhile, had their category upgraded from C to B, and from D to C, respectively. Shamim is the only player in Category C. Aliya Riaz, who missed out on a central contract last year, returns under Category B this time. Nida Dar, who also did not get a central contract last time amid a drop in form and a deterioration of relationships with the current PCB set-up, took an indefinite break from cricket in April, and is not part of the contracts list this time either.

This year’s contracts include a fifth category, Category E, designated as the Emerging category, which the PCB says has been created to nurture emerging talent. Eyman Fatima, an uncapped batter, and Shawaal Zulfiqar, who has featured in three ODIs and seven T20Is, are the two players listed under this new tier. Both were part of Pakistan’s squad for the inaugural ICC Women’s U-19 World Cup in 2023, and are also part of the squad for the ongoing T20I series in Ireland. Ten players have been named in Category D, with Natalia Parvaiz, Sidra Nawaz and Waheeda Akhtar fresh inclusions. The contract announcement comes ahead of a busy year for the Pakistan women’s side, which is scheduled to participate in two ICC events: the ODI World Cup in September-October 2025, and the T20 World Cup in June-July 2026, alongside bilateral series at home and abroad.

Central Contracts List 2025-26

Category A

Fatima Sana, Muneeba Ali, Sadia Iqbal and Sidra Amin

Category B

Aliya Riaz, Diana Baig and Nashra Sandhu

Category C

Rameen Shamim

Category D

Gull Feroza, Najiha Alvi, Natalia Parvaiz, Omaima Sohail, Sadaf Shamas, Sidra Nawaz, Syeda Aroob Shah, Tuba Hassan, Umm-e-Hani and Waheeda Akhtar

Category E (Emerging)

Eyman Fatima and Shawaal Zulfiqar.