Ramiz Raja questions MS Dhoni's salary, gets blasted on Twitter by Indian fans

After coming under heavy criticism for his slow paced innings in India’s 4th ODI loss to the West Indies, former Pakistani cricketer Ramiz Raja has questioned about MS Dhoni’s salary.

Raja, who now works as a TV commentator said that A Grade contracts should be given to players only eligible to play Test cricket, in order to protect the value of the longest format. 

“You have to acknowledge and respect the status of Test match cricket and it has to come from the cricket boards, in Asia specifically”.To support his statement, he pointed out at former India captain MS Dhoni’s A Grade contract. 

“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 said. However, this statement from Ramiz Raja did not go down very well with Indian fans who trolled him on Twitter.

Ramiz Raja said that Grade A contracts should particularly be awarded to Test players so as to protect the longest format of the game. 

“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 skipper.

Ramiz Raja has also suggested that there should be a two-month window only for Test matches to increase the popularity of Test cricket and also requested the International Cricket Council (ICC) for the same.

While crowds for Tests in countries such as England remain strong, Raja, a member of the influential MCC World Cricket Committee fears interest in Asia is "dwindling" due to the rise of glamorous and cash-rich T20 competitions such as the Indian Premier League (IPL).