Saba Karim has highlighted that some of the senior Indian players’ likely demotion in the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) annual contract — is a reflection of their indifferent performances over the last year or so.
Certain reports suggest that the likes of Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ishant Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha and Bhuvneshwar Kumar may be demoted in the central contracts for the October 2021-September 2022 period.
Saba Karim: Demotion Comes Only If Selectors Feel The Players Performances Haven’t Been Good Last Year
Saba Karim was about the likely demotion of these five established players. The BCCI has four categories — A+, A, B and C — which carry annual retainership of Rs 7 crore, Rs 5 crore, Rs 3 crore and Rs 1 crore respectively. As of now, there won’t be massive changes to the 28 names that featured in the last list but there could be some serious discussions about the composition of the current groups which were in place last year.
He responded: “This [Contract system] does two things from the BCCI’s side. You are promoted as an appreciation if you have done well last year or you are demoted if the selectors feel you have not performed. If we keep these criteria, it’s clear their performance has not been good last year.”
However, the former India selector added that the five veterans still have something to be happy about.
Saba Karim explained: “The expectations from them have gone down slightly and that is why we are talking about this demotion. But I feel this is also a silver lining for these players. If they are in Grade C, it means the selectors might still think about them in the coming year. It’s not that they have been totally sidelined.”
Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara and Bhuvneshwar Kumar were found wanting during the recent Indian tour of South Africa as well. Ishant Sharma and Wriddhiman Saha, on the other hand, did not get a game in the series, but are reaching the fag ends of their careers and age is not on their side.
Scoring at an average of just above 20, Ajinkya Rahane managed to fetch just 136 runs from the three Tests in South Africa. Cheteshwar Pujara’s performance was no different. The Saurashtra batter scored only 124 in the rubber that India lost 1-2, failing to win their maiden Test series in the rainbow nation.
With youngsters like Shreyas Iyer and Hanuma Vihari waiting in the wings, the senior duo of Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane could also be dropped from the final XI against Sri Lanka. Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav could also be dropped in the contract list.
Saba Karim Feels Grade A+ Is A Very Executive Club And Wants Ravindra Jadeja To Be Promoted There
Saba Karim was also asked about Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul’s likely promotion to the A+ grade.
He replied: “I feel A+ is a very exclusive club. Here I feel we are missing one player, that is Jadeja. He is a player who plays all three formats, he gives match-winning contributions and he has huge importance.”
While observing that Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul might not be promoted to the highest grade this year, the former India wicket-keeper named a few other players who deserve the promotion.
Saba Karim said: “Along with him, Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul are also there. But maybe this year only Jadeja might get an entry in A+ and Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul might be in Grade A. Other than that, I feel players like Mohammed Siraj, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan and Deepak Chahar should be given a promotion.”
Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah are the three players who currently enjoy Grade A+ status in the BCCI’s annual contracts. KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant, who along with Ravindra Jadeja are also all-format players and are even considered captaincy candidates, could be elevated to the highest grade.
Shardul Thakur, who has had some impactful performances in Test matches, can be hopeful of promotion to group A. In current group C, Mohammed Siraj is one man who has shown tremendous improvement while Shubman Gill is one for the future along with Hanuma Vihari, who would also be expecting an upgrade.