Arjun Bhalla

Highest Paid Cricketers in IPL History: The money-making machine of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, also known as the Indian Premier League, has changed many lives. The Indian Premier League is extremely popular for its life-turning tales such as Thangarasu Natarajan, Mohammed Siraj, Ravindra Jadeja, Pandya Brothers, and countless other cricketers who all became billionaires after a single IPL stint. Top 10 Highest Paid Cricketers in IPL History India’s most celebrated cricketing league got inaugurated in 2008 when BCCI’s then vice-president, Lalit Modi came with an idea of a city-based franchise and auctioning cricketers. The league instantly become hit and it is getting more and more successful after each edition. Last month, the Indian Premier League has completed its 13 seasons, and here the list of players who the richest due to the league. MAHENDRA SINGH DHONI The former Indian captain and world’s most celebrated cricketer, MS Dhoni was bought by Chennai SuperKings in 2008 as their marquee player for USD 1.5 Million (INR 11 Crores). He got the same amount for the next three years. From 2011 till 2013, MS got a salary dip to INR 8.2 Crores. In 2014, the BCCI increased the salaries of first choice retentions as MS got INR 12.5 Crores for till the end of 2015. When Dhoni got transferred to Pune SuperGaints, his payment stayed the same for his two-year tenure. From 2018, MSD is getting INR 15 Crores per year as the BCCI increased the fees for the first choice retentions. Dhoni has earned over INR 137 Crores in the last 13 seasons of the Indian Premier League. ROHIT SHARMA After MS Dhoni comes India’s white-ball vice-captain. Deccan Chargers (now replaced by SunRisers Hyderabad) bought Rohit Sharma for the first edition of the T20 league at a whopping cost of INR 3 Crores. The franchise continued with Sharma for three years and the cricketer charged the same for his tenure at Hyderabad. In 2011, the Ambanis brought him to Mumbai Indians where he charged INR 11 Crores till the 2013 season. In 2014, Rohit who became the captain of the franchise in the mid-2013 season was the first-choice retention and got INR 12.5 Crores. His salary again increased in 2018 as the board increased it to INR 15 Crores per year for the first-choice retentions. Hence, Rohit Sharma has earned INR. 131 Crores since 2008. VIRAT KOHLI The Indian captain and Royal Challengers Bangalore’s superstar has been with the franchise since the commencement of the league. Virat Kohli was gaining huge popularity as he was the Indian skipper when Indian clinched the Under-19 World Cup in 2008. RCB understood Kohli’s caliber and got the future superstar on-board for INR 12 Lakhs. Virat charged the same for the next two years until 2011 when the franchise retained Kohli for INR 8.2 Crores. In 2014, as the board increased the salary of the first-choices and RCB’s star bagged INR 12.5 Crores for the next four years. In 2018, Virat broke all the records to become the highest-paid cricketer in a single IPL season, Virat grabbed INR 17 Crores per year and he is getting paid the same amount since then. The total amount for Virat from IPL adds on to INR 128 Crores. SURESH RAINA The former Indian all-rounder who is also regarded as the most enthusiastic cricketer, Suresh Raina was bought by Chennai SuperKings in 2008. Raina under Dhoni’s wings got the title of Mr. IPL. Suresh was bought for INR 2.6 Crores by his beloved CSK and he earned the same amount until the end of the third IPL season. In 2011, after winning his maiden IPL title his got a salary hike to INR 6 Crores per year and took the same amount for the next 2 seasons. In the 2014 and 2015 editions, he grabbed INR 9.5 Crores when he became the second-choice retention player in CSK. As Chennai got banned for 2 years, Mr. IPL got transferred to Gujarat Loins where he took INR 9.5 Crores in 2016 and INR 12.5 Crores in 2017. He again came back to Chennai for the 2018 season at the prize money of INR 11 Crores. He might have missed the last IPL season but still, Mr. IPL is on the fourth spot with over INR 98 Crores. GAUTAM GAMBHIR The hero of the finals of the 2007 T20 World Cup and the 2011 World Cup, Gautam Gambhir comes on the fifth spot of the wealthiest men from the Indian Premier League. After the victory of 2007, Gautam was valued highly, hence, Delhi Daredevils grabbed him for INR 2.9 Crores and paid him the same amount for three IPL editions. In 2011, Gambhir got shifted to Kolkata and the Knight Rider bought the sensation for INR 11 Crores and he charged the exact till 2013 edition. In 2014, as per BCCI’s order, Gautam Gambir who was KKR’s first-choice got INR 12.5 Crores for the next four seasons. In 2018, Gautam came back to Delhi to play his last season at INR 2.8 Crores. Gautam who has captained his franchise KRR has earned a total of INR 95 Crores in 11 IPL seasons. AB DE VILLIERS The South African superman is the most celebrated foreign player in India. De Villiers is playing the league since its start. He was bought be by Delhi Daredevils in the first three editions and the franchise paid him the sum of INR 3.9 Crores each year. He switched to Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2011 where he was auctioned for INR 5 Crores. His price went up to INR 6 Crores in 2013. Next year, he again a raise, this time an even bigger one, AB got INR 9.5 Crores for 2014. In 2018, he again got promoted, commercially, as per BCCI’s rule, he has been charging INR 11 Crores since then. After 13 rich seasons, the South African has earned INR 92 Crores from the world’s richest league. YUVRAJ SINGH The Man of series from India’s 2011 triumph and the reason from 2007’s World Cup victory, Yuvraj Singh is regarded as India’s T20 specialist. Yuvraj was always a big name during the IPL auctions. The journey of Yuvraj in the premier league started with Kings XI Punjab where he was their marquee player. The franchise bought Yuvraj for INR 4.25 Crores and Yuvi stayed with Punjab for three seasons. In 2011, Pune Warriors India won the bid for Singh and grabbed for INR 8.28 Crores where the cricketer provided his services for 3 years. In 2014, Royal Challengers Bangalore got Yuvraj Singh for INR 14 Crores. Next year, Delhi Daredevils bought him for INR 16 Crores, and then, he shifted to Sunrisers Hyderabad for INR 9 Crores. In 2018, Yuvraj came back to Punjab for INR 20 Crores. In the end, the Son of Singh played his last season for Mumbai Indians at INR 10 Crores. Yuvraj’s net earnings for IPL goes up to INR 84 Crores. SUNIL NARINE The mystery Trinidadian cricketer is the seventh spot on the list. Narine came to the league in 2012 after his mind-boggling performances in the Caribbean Premier League and he has played for them since then. Kolkata Knight Rider got the spinner for INR 3.5 Crores. He got INR 3.7 Crores next year and got a huge monetary spike from 2014 where he was their second-choice retention for INR 9.5 Crores. In 2018, he again got a salary hike to INR 12.5 Crores and he is charging the same since then. The total earnings of Sunil Narine from the Indian Premier League go up to INR 83 Crores. SHANE WATSON The Australian all-rounder is one of the biggest success stories of the Indian Premier League. His journey at the league kicked off in 2008 with Rajasthan Royals. Watson played the first season for INR 54 Lakhs and charged INR 61 Lakhs and INR 57 Lakhs in the following years. His fate changed from the 2011 season where he got big fat cheques. Watson got INR 6 Crores in 2011, INR 6.5 Crores in 2012, and INR 7 Crores in the 2013 season. He got retained by Rajasthan in 2014 for INR 12.5 Crores and got the same in 2015. In 2016, he had to switch to Bangalore as Rajasthan Royals got banned. Watson played two editions for Banglore for INR 9.5 Crores. Chennai SuperKings bought Watson in 2018 for INR 4 Crores as Watson played his last seasons. The sum of Shane Watson’s IPL earning is INR 77 Crores. ROBIN UTHAPPA Robin earned all of his name and fame from the rich-money league. Robin has become an IPL veteran over the years. His IPL journey headed with Mumbai Indians where the owners got him for INR 3.8 Crores. In the following year, Robin got traded to Royal Challengers Bangalore and he represented them for two years for his first IPL bid. He got his breakthrough moment in IPL 2011 Auction when Pune Warriors India signed him for a price of 9.6 crores. His earnings increased to 10.50 crores in 2012 before coming down to 9.6 crores in 2013. Later in 2014, Kolkata Knight Riders bought Robin played for INR 5 Crores for four years. Then, Uthappa started getting INR 6.4 Crores in the 2018 and 2019 seasons. He played the last IPL season with the Rajasthan franchise at INR 4 Crores. Robin Uthappa has grossed-up to INR 75 Crores in the last 13 years. For more cricket news, click here

Arjun Bhalla

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