Former Pakistan cricket captain Ramiz Raja has voiced strong criticism against the potential demotion of white-ball captain Babar Azam and wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan from their Category A status in the Pakistan Cricket Board's (PCB) central contracts. According to local media reports, the duo faces the downgrade following Pakistan's early exit from the T20 World Cup 2024, despite securing victories against Canada and Ireland.

Pakistan's poor performance saw them fail to advance past the group round, drawing criticism from former players and fans alike. Ramiz Raja said on a local broadcast that lowering players' salaries is not a good way to increase performance. He emphasised that players have limited careers, and they should be paid handsomely.

The possibility of demoting Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan has caused discussions among cricket fans and experts. 

"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,” Raja stated on the 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,” he added 

“As I have said before, this is a knee-jerk reaction and you can not improve the standard by increasing or decreasing the pay of the cricketers,” Ramiz mentioned