With cricket becoming ever more recognized in the world and gaining more fans, it is no wonder that cricket lovers have begun to wonder what their favorite cricketers earn. The Indian Cricket team, being one of the world’s top cricket teams, has undoubtedly very talented and hardworking cricketers and now that BCCI has proclaimed the salaries for their athletes, fans have to search no further.
According to the BCCI, the salaries are divided into four categories, namely: A+, A, B, and C. Each individual player is categorized into these four grades. Depending on a player’s performance in the last cricketing season, he/she can be upgraded or degraded from his/her initial grade. Expectedly the list of players in a grade is controlled by the BCCI.
The Fixed Salary for Each Grade (men cricket team) is:
Grade A+ players: Rupees 7 Crore
Grade A players: Rupees 5 Crore
Grade B players: Rupees 3 Crore
Grade C players: Rupees 1 Crore
The Fixed Salary for Each Grade (women cricket team) is:
Grade A players: Rupees 50 Lakhs
Grade B players: Rupees 30 Lakhs
Grade C players: Rupees 10 Lakhs
If for whatever reason, a player is not listed down in the contracted players and still plays a minimum of three matches, any format (Test/ODI/T20), he/she will be promoted to a superior grade.
The Distribution of Indian Cricket Team Members (men) into Grades (BCCI proclaimed):
Grade A+ players (Rupees 7 Crore): Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah
Grade A players (Rupees 5 Crore): Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara, Hardik Pandya, Ishant Sharma, KL Rahul, Mohammed Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Rishabh Pant, and Shikhar Dhawan
Grade B players (Rupees 3 Crore): Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mayank Agarwal, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, and Wriddhiman Saha
Grade C players (Rupees 1 Crore): Axar Patel, Deepak Chahar, Hanuma Vihari, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Navdeep Saini, Shreyas Iyer, Shubman Gill, Washington Sundar, and Yuzvendra Chahal.
Indian Women cricketer’s salaries
The Distribution of Indian Cricket Team Members (women) into Grades (BCCI proclaimed):
Grade A players (Rs 50 Lakhs): Ms. Mithali Raj, Ms. Harmanpreet Kaur, Ms. Smriti Mandhana, and Ms. Poonam Yadav
Grade B players (Rs 30 Lakhs): Ms. Ekta Bisht, Ms. Jhulan Goswami, Ms. Shikha Pandey, Ms. Deepti Sharma, and Ms. Jemimah Rodrigues
Grade C players (Rs 10 Lakhs): Ms. Radha Yadav, Ms. D Hemalatha, Ms. Anuja Patil, Ms. Veda Krishnamurthy, Ms. Mansi Joshi, Ms. Punam Raut, Ms. Mona Meshram, Ms. Arundhati Reddy, Ms. Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Ms. Taniya Bhatia, and Ms. Pooja Vastrakar.
Incidentally, BCCI has announced that Indian spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav have both been downgraded to Grade C from Grade B and Grade A respectively. This stands to show that grading can be changed depending on a player’s performance and is subject to drastic change. Similarly, players like Axar Patel, Mohammed Siraj, and Shubman Gill have attained Central Contract with the BCCI based on their performances in the last cricketing season.
What are the factors taken into account when Calculating a Player’s Salary?
Match Fee: Every individual player who participates in an international match is awarded a match fee. The Match fee remains the same for the entire squad, regardless of a player’s grade.
Team Performance Bonuses: Rewards are designated for individual players on a stellar performance against the top three ranking teams in the world at the time. These bonuses are awarded by the BCCI. For example: if they score a fifty or a century or are able to bag numerous wickets. This increases their salary by 30-60%.
Retainer Fee: A retainer fee is a guaranteed yearly salary that is paid to all players, in the central contract with BCCI, based on where they rank in the grading system (A+, A, B, and C).
Individual Performance Bonuses: These bonuses are added to a player’s salary depending on his/her performance in matches. For example Rupees 500,000 for scoring a hundred runs in an ODI, Rupees 700,000 for a double century in test, Rupees 500,000 for a 5 wicket haul in any formatted match, and Rupees 700,000 for a 10 wicket haul in a test.
At the moment, Virat Kohli is the highest-paid Indian Cricketer, basing on his contract with BCCI, partnerships with various brands, and endorsement deals.
All in all, numerous factors are in play when adding up a player’s salary.
