New Delhi, Jan 1 (IANS) The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) revealed the actual salaries of retained Indian Premier League (IPL) players on Friday ahead of the ninth season of the lucrative T20 tournament.
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) captain Virat Kohli is the highest paid player with an actual salary of Rs.15 crore ahead of Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Team Pune) and Shikhar Dhawan (Sun Risers Hyderabad) who earn Rs.12.5 crore each.
Dhoni and Suresh Raina were the first picks by newly-formed franchises Team Pune and Team Rajkot respectively at the recent IPL player draft in Mumbai. The two franchises, who have replaced Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals (RR), paid Rs.12.5 crore each for the duo.
But the BCCI has clarified that the 10 players who were bought at the draft will continue to receive the salaries which they did from their previous teams. As a result, Raina will continue to receive a salry of Rs.9.5 crore although Rs.12.5 crore will be deducted from Team Rajkot’s salary purse.
Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) skipper Gautam Gambhir are the only other players who are paid in excess of Rs.10 crore in a season.
Mumbai Indians’ West Indies all-rounder Kieron Pollard draws the highest salary among the foreign players at Rs.9.7 crore.