You may wonder how many Indian Cricketers get paid or how much their salary is. Most often cricketers are paid in a yearly contract with the cricket board. Every year the board contracts players according to categories. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announces contracts for each year and players get paid according to their contract. BCCI announced the salary of Indian cricket players for the 2021 season classifying them into 4 divisions. Players are graded as per their performance.
The BCCI controls the grading, promoting, or demoting system of players. Players who perform great for the team are listed in higher grades.
What Are The Grades
In the 2021 season contract, the BCCI listed players in 4 categories.
- Grade A+: Salary Rs. 7 crore
- Grade A: Salary Rs. 5 crore
- Grade B: Salary Rs. 3 crore
- Grade C: Salary Rs. 1 crore
Players of A+ Grade get Rs. 7 crore a year as their salary. A Grade, B Grade, C Grade earns Rs. 5 crores, Rs. 3 crore, Rs. 1 crore respectively.
Who Is The Highest Paid Indian Cricketer
Virat Kohli, the Captain of the Indian Cricket Team, is the player with the highest salary among Indian cricketers. BCCI contracted Virat Kohli for Rs. 7 crore deal per year. This batsman gets Rs. 7 crores in a year as his salary. Undoubtedly, Virat Kohli is now one of the best players in the world. So, it is not unbelievable for him to get the highest salary.
Rohit Sharma is also on the Grade A+ list. This opener batsman of India also earns Rs. 7 crores. His performance and consistency in the past few years booked him a place in the highest category. In recent times, Rohit Sharma is one of the best openers in the world.
There is another player with A+ Grade. It is none other than Jasprit Bumrah. Jasprit Bumrah is one of the deadliest fast bowlers in the world. His aggressive performance secured him a place in the A+ Grade.
Which Player Is In Which Category
Indian cricket players’ salary is based on their Grade. The BCCI contracted 28 players in 4 grades in the 2021 season. Among them, 3 players are newly contracted.
Grade A+: Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Jasprit Bumrah
Grade A: Ravindra Jadeja, Cheteshwar Pujara, R Ashwin, Ajinkya Rahane, K.L. Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant.
Grade B: Wriddhiman Saha, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Mayank Agarwal.
Grade C: Kuldeep Yadav, Deepak Chahar, Shubman Gill, Navdeep Saini, Hanuma Vihari, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammad Siraj, Washington Sundar.
Shubman Gill, Mohammed Siraj, and Axar Patel are those 3 players who got newly contracted by the BCCI. All of them have been placed in the C Grade.
Who Got Promotion and Demotion from the Previous Contract
Hardik Pandya made the highest jump. This all-rounder jumped to Grade A from Grade B. He will now make Rs. 5 crores in a year.
Shardul Thakur also jumped up one grade and is now placed in B Grade from his previous C Grade.
The chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav moved down to Grade C from Grade A. Also, Yuzvendra Chahal got one grade demotion from Grade B to C. Bhuvneshwar Kumar moved to Grade B from A.
Moreover, 2 players, who were in the previous central contract for BCCI, missed out this time. Manish Pandey and Kedar Jadhav didn’t have their names on the list. People were shocked not to see Manish Pandey’s name in the list as he was contributing greatly in limited-overs formats.
Do Indian Cricketers Get Salary from Other Sources
Central contract of the BCCI is not the only way Indian cricketers income from.
Match Fee: Every player gets an amount for playing each international match. This is called a match fee. All squad members get the same amount as the match fee. Indian players get 15 lakh per Test match, 6 lakh per ODI match, 3 lakh per T20 match.
Bonus for Individual Performance: Apart from the main salary, Indian Cricketers receive a reward based on their individual performance. The BCCI appreciates players who perform outstandingly in matches with rewards.
- Rs. 500,000 for scoring a century in a Test or ODI match.
- Rs. 700,000 for scoring a double century in a Test or ODI match.
- Rs. 500,000 for a 5 wickets-haul in a Test, ODI, or T20 match.
- Rs. 700,000 for a 10 wickets-haul in a Test match.
Besides, an Indian cricketer also earns from advertising, sponsorship, playing leagues like IPL, becoming a brand ambassador, etc.
Wrapping Up
The BCCI contracts players in the yearly term. They observe players’ performances and then divide them into Grades according to their contribution to the team. Grading lists depend on the player’s performance. Virat Kohli leads the salary campaign along with Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah in A+ Grade. Players also get a retain fee yearly as per their grades.
