Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) captain Virat Kohli is the Highest Paid player ahead of the 9th season of the lucrative IPL T20 tournament, as per the actual salaries of retained players revealed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
Virat Kohli’s actual salary is Rs 15 crore. RCB retained him by paying this much. Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Pune) and Shikhar Dhawan (Sun Risers Hyderabad) earn Rs 12.5 crore each. In fact, Dhoni and Suresh Raina were picked by newly-formed franchises Pune and Rajkot respectively at the recent IPL player draft. The two franchises, which replaced Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals (RR), had paid Rs.12.5 crore each for the two star players.
However, the BCCI clarified that the 10 players who were picked at the draft will continue to receive the salaries that they used to get from their previous teams. Hence, Dhoni will get Rs 12.5 Crore (his previous) but Raina will get only Rs.9.5 crore salary despite Rs.12.5 crore will be deducted from Rajkot’s salary purse.
There are several other players who are being paid less than their official purse deductions. Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) skipper Gautam Gambhir receives Rs.10 crore while Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma receives Rs.11.5 crore despite both their official purse deduction stands at Rs.12.5 crore.