Karim also talked about which players deserved promotion in BCCI central contracts.
Scoring at an average of just above 20, Rahane managed to fetch just 136 runs from the three Tests in South Africa. Pujara's performance was no different, with the Saurashtra batter scoring only 124 runs.
The reports of BCCI demoting the pair in the upcoming central contracts list of the Indian team have been doing rounds along with names of fast bowler Ishant Sharma and all-rounder Hardik Pandya. The BCCI has four categories (A, A, B, and C) that carry annual retainership of ₹7 crores, ₹5 crores, ₹3 crores, and ₹1 crore respectively.
BCCI is planning to demote Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara from category A to category B. Reacting to the same, former BCCI selector Saba Karim believes their demotion is a reflection of their performances in the past year.
"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," said Karim on India News.
"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," he added.
Saba Karim also spoke about the possible promotions of keeper-batter Rishabh Pant and opener and new white-ball vice-captain KL Rahul. He instead associated all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja in the A+ category and highlighted the multi-format player's expertise.
"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. 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," he said.