MS Dhoni's Grade A contract questioned by Ramiz Raja

New Delhi, July 5: Former Pakistan cricketer Ramiz Raja has questioned the Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) decision of giving a Grade A contract to Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who is no more playing Test cricket.

Guha attacks 'superstar' Dhoni, Gavaskar

As per Raja, the cricket boards should respect the value of the longest format and should give Grade A Contracts to only those who are eligible for Test match selection.

"You have to acknowledge and respect the status of Test match cricket and it has to come from the cricket boards, in Asia specifically," said Raja was quoted by Indian Express as saying.

"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," he further said.

Dhoni bade adieu to longest form of cricket in 2014 after playing 90 Tests and passed the baton to Virat Kohli.

Talking about future of Test cricket in Asia and the ICC's proposed Test championship, that didn't find any takers, Raja said a proper planning should have been made by the boards.

"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.

Raja's words are in line with the historian Ramachandra Guha's observations over BCCI's 'superstar syndrome' with Dhoni and Sunil Gavaskar.

Guha after resigning from the BCCI's Committee of Administrators (COA), wrote a detailed letter to the committee head Vinod Rai where he too questioned why was Dhoni getting a Grade A contract despite not playing Test cricket.

"Unfortunately, this superstar syndrome has also distorted the system of Indian team contracts. As you will recall, I had pointed out that awarding 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 wrote in his letter.

OneIndia News