The Indian skipper Virat Kohli is hailed as the modern legend of this game. He is also one of the highest-paid athletes of India. In fact, whenever we talk about the world’s highest-paid cricketers, Kohli finds his name on top of the list. Though he is the richest cricketer in the world, but he isn’t the highest-paid international captain. Yes, you read that right.
Despite all the wealth that he has earned by playing the game at the highest level, Kohli stands second on the list of highest-paid international skippers in the world as England Test skipper Joe Root earns more salary than him.
According to reports, the Indian skipper has a Grade A+ contract with the BCCI, as per which he earns an annual salary of INR 7 crore. On the other hand, Joe Root earns £7,00,000 annually (Rs. 7.22 crore approx). Not just this, England’s sensational bowler Jofra Archer earns more than the Indian skipper.
Talking about other skippers, Australian Test skipper Tim Paine earns Rs. 5 crores in annual salary from Cricket Australia. Pakistan skipper Babar Azam earns Rs. 62 lakh per year by the Pakistan Cricket Board for his role as a captain. Sri Lankan counterpart Dimuth Karunaratne earns an even lesser amount, he earns Rs. 51 lakh annually.
Meanwhile, Virat Kohli reportedly earns a whopping Rs. 17 crore for leading Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League.
Virat earns a huge chunk of his income from his endorsements of brands like Puma, Audi, MRF, Colgate-Palmolive, Tissot and has done shoots for many personal care companies as well. As of now, he has 17 companies on his brand endorsement list. Recently, Virat overtook Shahrukh Khan as the country’s top-ranking celebrity brand.
All thanks to his brand value, the Indian skipper was the only cricketer to feature on the Forbes list of the world’s highest-paid athletes in 2020.
