The former Pakistan captain Ramiz Raja criticizes that the demotion of the two senior players of the national team- wicket-keeper batter Mohammad Rizwan and the team’s captain Babar Azam from the central contract list is not going to bring success for the side in the future.
Under the leadership of Babar, Pakistan finished a very tough campaign in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, in the West Indies and the United States of America (USA), where they finished in the group stage, after their two consecutive heart-breaking defeats in the first two of the four games.
There have been news that Babar could lose his captaincy on the back of the poor performance, while Rizwan was expected to get sacked from the T20I side, for his low strike rate even in the modern generation. But Ramiz Raja feels that sacking both of them from the contract list won’t work.
‘This is a knee-jerk reaction’- Ramiz Raja
Pakistan came into the ninth edition of the tournament on the back of their series lost by 2-0 margin over England in the away series, where they were blown away by some brilliant all-round performances from England.
Also Read: “It’s Important That Pakistan Start Off With Babar Azam And Mohammad Rizwan”- Ramiz Raja
In their very first game at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas, they didn’t start with intent against the US, as Babar looked out of touch after losing his opening partner Rizwan quite early in the innings. He was trying to get the big shots but the result was far away from him.
All the other batters tried the same, but the fruits were not coming in their corridor, before Shadab Khan came and whacked a few big shots to take them to a respectable total, on the other hand, after his wicket, the rest of the batting line-up fell like a pack of cards.
The bowling, however, pulled themselves back in the game, but it was too late, as somehow the USA managed to push the game into the super-over, where they held their nerve better than the 2009 champions and got over the line eventually.
At the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York, Pakistan were in a great spot where they could easily chase down a low total of 120 runs against India. From 48 runs being required in 48 balls, with eight wickets in hand, the game belonged to the game, until the Rizwan wicket opened the channel of wickets, and the whole line-up got destroyed in the blink of an eye.
Even in their third game against Canada at the same ground, the aim was to finish the chase early to recover the net run rate a little bit, which they failed to do, and once the game between the US and Ireland at the Central Broward Regional Park Stadium Turf Ground in Florida was washed out, the 2022 runners-up were knocked out of the competition, for the very first time, before the second round.
The former captain Ramiz Raja has observed that if the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) holds or reduces the salaries of the players, it is not going to bring success anyway.
‘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.’ The former Chairman of the PCB, Ramiz Raja expressed this during a local sports show. ‘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.’
Also Read: Ramiz Raja Blames Pakistan Players And Cricket Board For T20 World Cup 2024 Group Stage Exit
The 61-year-old trusts that cutting the payments of the players is a ‘knee-jerk’ reaction from the management and that’s not going into improve their skill in any way.
‘As I have said before, this is a knee-jerk reaction and you cannot improve the standard by increasing or decreasing the pay of the cricketers.’ The former batter Ramiz Raja noted.
A few changes in the personals of the team are expected to take place in the future of the Pakistan team before their home Test series over Bangladesh.