IPL is the richest T20 cricket league in the world by a fair margin and it directly reflects on the salaries of the cricketers as well. The salaries of the highest paid cricketers in the IPL are about 10 times more than the highest salaries that the cricketers get in the other T20 leagues.
The salaries in the IPL are even more than what the cricketers are paid to play for their national teams on a yearly basis.
Here are the highest paid cricketers of IPL 2020 –
Virat Kohli (17 crore INR)
Generally, the first cricketer that the teams retained ahead of the mega auction in 2018 had to be paid 15 crore INR, but Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) decided to pay their skipper Virat Kohli an amount of 17 crore INR per season, probably because Virat had been their best performer over the last 5 years and was also the captain of the side.
Pat Cummins (15.5 crore INR)
Pat Cummins had kept himself away from the IPL for the last couple of years, but he put his name up for sale again in the IPL auction ahead of the 2020 season and a lot of teams showed interest in the Australian fast bowler, given the kind of performance he had put on in the international circuit in the recent past.
Cummins was eventually bought by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at a whopping amount of 15.5 crore INR.
MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma (15 crore INR each)
MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma are the two most successful captains in the history of the IPL as they have won a total of 7 IPL titles between them, with Dhoni winning 3 and Rohit winning 4.
Both Dhoni and Rohit were also the first retained players of their respective franchises CSK and Mumbai Indians in 2018, but despite achieving such an incredible amount of success, Dhoni and Rohit were offered contracts worth 15 crore INR each, the price that was set by BCCI for first retained players.
It was unlike RCB who offered Virat Kohli a bit of extra amount over the fixed price that was set by BCCI.
Steve Smith and Sunil Narine (12.5 crore INR each)
Steve Smith and Sunil Narine were the second retained players of their respective franchises Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders.
Although Smith had played for Rising Pune Supergiant in IPL 2016 and 2017, since he was a part of the Rajasthan Royals squad before they were banned in 2015, he was considered a Rajasthan Royals player at the time of retention.
The price that was set by BCCI for the second retained players was 12.5 crore INR, subject to the negotiations with the player. Rajasthan and KKR went with the fixed price and Smith and Narine were offered contracts worth 12.5 crore INR each.
Ben Stokes (12.5 crore INR)
Ben Stokes also got a contract worth 12.5 crore INR ahead of IPL 2018, but he was not a retained player. He was actually bought by the Rajasthan Royals in the auction.
It was a slightly lower price as compared to what Stokes had got in the IPL auction ahead of the 2017 season. The English all-rounder was paid 14.5 crore INR for playing for Rising Pune Supergiant, a team which participated in the IPL only for a couple of seasons.
Suresh Raina and AB de Villiers (11 crore INR)
Suresh Raina and AB de Villiers were the second players retained by CSK and RCB after MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli respectively and although the second retained players had to be paid 12.5 crore INR each, the franchises negotiated terms with these two players and both of them agreed at an amount of 11 crore INR each.
