New Delhi: Former Pakistan great Ramiz Raja has raised questions on the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for awarding MS Dhoni with a 'Grade A' contract despite the former skipper being a just a limited overs player.
Citing an example of Shahid Afridi, who had a Grade ‘A’ contract despite retiring from one format of the game, Ramiz said that the Asian boards need to respect the Test format more and such exceptions, even to great players, should not be given.
"You have to acknowledge and respect the status of Test match cricket and it has to come from the cricket boards, in Asia specifically. For example, MS Dhoni retired from Test cricket yet got the A-grade contract from the BCCI, Shahid Afridi retired from Test cricket yet got the A-grade contract from PCB,” the former Pakistani cricketer was quoted as saying by the Indian Express.
Ramiz further asserted that to protect the longest format of the game, Grad A contracts should only be given to Test players without exceptions.
“It is under a lot of stress in Asia but if we have a properly planned Test match championship, that’s the way out of this, otherwise we will be struggling to put aside as much money as is available for the T20 leagues,” said the former Pakistan captain.
The comments didn't go down well with Twitterati who unleashed fire on the former Pakistani cricketer-turned-commentator.
Here's how the reaction on social media followed:-
"IT'S NONE OF UR BUSINESS @iramizraja
MS Dhoni Grade A contract slammed by Ramiz Raja."
"tu kaun main khamakha..hahaha..>>Ramiz Raja Questions MS Dhoni Getting Grade 'A' Contract"
"@iramizraja Who are you? Begaani shaadi mein Raja diwanna! Ramiz Raja Questions MS Dhoni Grade 'A' Contract"
"Who is he??? Rameez Raja think twice before gave any statement on Mahi... keep clam and watch matches of Pakistan"
Ramiz's opinion on the matter echoes that of Ramchandra Guha's who in his scathing resignation letter written to BCCI’s Committee of Administrators chairman Vinod Rai called Indian team contracts 'distorted'.
“Unfortunately, the superstar syndrome has distorted the system of Indian team contracts. As you will recall, I had pointed out that awarding MS Dhoni an ‘A’ contract when he had explicitly ruled himself out from all Test matches was indefensible on cricketing grounds, and sends absolutely the wrong message,” Guha had written.
Dhoni had announced retirement from Test cricket in 2014 and handed over the captaincy bandwagon to Virat Kohli in limited overs cricket earlier in 2017.
