Former Selector Saba Karim Opines On Demotion Of Veteran Indian Cricketers

Former selector and Indian cricketer Saba Karim has kept his opinion on the likely demotions of veteran Indian cricketers  Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ishant Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. The BCCI may demote these cricketers on the basis of their indifferent performances in the last two years.

Karim said that while Indian cricket is undergoing a phase of transition, the demotion of the players is a reflection of their lack of performance in recent times. All the cricketers may be demoted in the central contracts for the October 2021-September 2022 period.

“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,” Saba Karim told India News during an interaction.

The former selector further said that they are not totally sidelined by the BCCI and might be looked at as options in the coming year. Karim expects all these cricketers to be given Grade C contracts.

Expectations From Them Have Gone Down Slightly: Saba Karim

“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.”

Saba Karim further said that India dearly missed Ravindra Jadeja in the series against South Africa. He has been undergoing recovery and was not a part of the Test and the ODI series. The southpaw has not yet fully recovered which is why he is not included in the ODI and T20I squads for the West Indies series.

“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,” Karim concluded saying.

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