Former Pakistan captain Ramiz Raja criticized the reports of demoting white-ball captain Babar Azam and wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan from their central contract category after their early exit from the T20 World Cup 2024.
According to a local media report, the aformentione duo might lose their Category A status with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) following defeats against the USA and India, despite wins over Canada and Ireland.
Raja, speaking on a local sports show, argued that withholding or reducing players’ salaries won’t lead to success. “This is beyond me. Cricketers should be paid, simple as that. They have a limited career and PCB has a lot to give to the cricketers,” Raja said.
“If you decrease or withhold the salary of a workforce then it will result in the workforce leaving the job. This is an incredibly delicate matter that as a punishment you are decreasing or holding back the salary of someone,” he added.
He emphasized that punishing players by cutting their pay is counterproductive and termed the demotion talks as a “knee-jerk reaction” that won’t improve team standards.
“As I have said before, this is a knee-jerk reaction and you can not improve the standard by increasing or decreasing the pay of the cricketers,” he concluded.
Khawaja backs Babar as Pak captain
Usman Khawaja on Monday discussed Babar Azam’s future as Pakistan’s captain after the team failed to qualify for the Super 8 in the T20 World Cup 2024.
Despite criticism of Azam’s captaincy, Khawaja supported him, saying, “It’s Babar Azam’s decision to captain; if he can, he should.”
Khawaja highlighted Pakistan’s talent but noted that constant changes in the team, staff, and selection committee hinder stability and performance.
He emphasized that stability is crucial for success, which Pakistan cricket often lacks. “Pakistan cricket team has a lot of talent. Expectations are high in Pakistan, the game is tough and only one team can win,” he said during an event in Melbourne.
“When I look from the outside, changes are constant in the Pakistan cricket. Selection committee, staff and players keep changing. Such a situation is difficult because stability is very important. When there is no stability, it is difficult for players to perform. Pakistan cricket team never sees stability,” he added.
Pakistan was eliminated from the T20 World Cup after losses to the USA and India, and a rain-affected match between the USA and Ireland further dashed their hopes.
Their next challenge is a two-match Test series against Bangladesh at home in August.
Pak’s lack of intent led to USA’s win: Ali Khan
USA pacer Ali Khan reflected on their historic T20 World Cup 2024 win against Pakistan, attributing it to Pakistan underestimating them. Khan stated that USA’s belief was stronger and criticized Pakistan for lacking intent and playing cautiously, especially in the powerplay.
“Our belief was bigger than them. I think Pakistan took us lightly. It was their first game, and they hadn’t played on that ground before while we’ve played there often,” Khan said while talking on a YouTube channel.
“We were used to the conditions. When they started batting, we didn’t see intent from them, and they batted very slowly in the powerplay. Yes, Rizwan got out early but we didn’t see much intent after that. Fakhar Zaman hit a six and showed some intent but luckily I got him out. Pakistan didn’t play attacking cricket there and went into their shell,” he added.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ