The BCCI and Cricket Australia (CA) are two of the so-called “Big 3” when it comes to global cricket. While BCCI is the most powerful, Australia also has a fair few amount of influence in the happenings of the cricket World. Two of the richest boards means that they possess some of the best and handsomely paid players in the world. Each of their stars are well paid for the great job that they do for their country, but in this world of comparison, there is always the question of which board pays their players better.
A lot of people would probably believe that it will be the Indian side that is the better paid among the two teams, but those who believe that will have to face disappointment because it’s actually the players from the land Down under who are the better paid athletes. While Indian cricketers easily eclipse them when it comes to endorsement revenue etc, the Aussies edge them out on salary by the board.
India’s highest earners are the players who are under the Tier A contract of the central system. So the likes of Bumrah, Kohli, Sharma, etc are in this list, and they all earn 7 crores via the salary terms stipulated in the contract. While this is a handsome amount and not something to scoff at, the salary earned by the players in Australia literally obliterates this number and makes it look like pocket change.
While the likes of Kohli earn 7 crores, Pat Cummins, who is the current test captain of the Aussies, earns a staggering $2 million yearly, which translates to roughly around 16 crore rupees, which is double the amount earned by the players under the A contract. Cummins also happens to be the highest paid Australian cricketer, closely followed by the likes of Josh Hazlewood, Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, and David Warner, who each earn anywhere around $1.3-$1.6 million.
In contrast, the Indian players who are not part of the A tier are divided into tiers B-D, and each of those players earn anywhere between 1cr to 3 cr on an annual basis, which is still lesser than the salaries of some of the Australian players in and around their side.