Rishabh Pant Tops Virat Kohli, Is Highest Paid Indian Cricketer; Shreyas Earns More Than Rohit Despite No BCCI Contract
India wicketkeeper batter Rishabh Pant surpassed former India captain Virat Kohli to become the highest paid Indian cricketer after he was acquired by Lucknow Super Giants for a record-breaking bid at the IPL 2025 auction.
Shreyas Iyer, on the other hand, beat India captain Rohit Sharma to take the third spot on the list despite not having a BCCI contract.
Pant, who was presented as part pf marquee set 1 at the IPL auction on Sunday in Jeddah, was signed by LSG for a jaw-dropping price of INR 27 crore. He hence became the most expensive player in the history of the league, beating Mitchell Starc’s previous record of INR 24.75 crore by KKR in IPL 2024 auction.
With Pant part of Grade B category in BCCI’s annual player retainership 2023-24, worth INR 3 crore annually, it leaves the star cricketer with a total of INR 30 crore earnings annually. Pant was demoted to Grade B category as he was out of action since December 2022 owing to a car accident and hence was recovering during the time of the announcement. He was previously part of Grade A category and is likely to return to that list or even earn a promotion to A+, given his significant role in the Indian squad across formats, when BCCI announce the fresh contract list next March.
Pant hence pipped Kohli in the list of highest-paid Indian cricketers, with the 36-year-old earning a combined INR 28 crore. He was retained by Royal Challengers Bengaluru for INR crore, and is part of Grade A+ in the BCCI list, which is worth INR 7 crore.
Shreyas Iyer leaves behind Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah
Iyer and Ishan Kishan were the two players who were removed from the BCCI contract list for 2023/24 after they disobeyed the board’s mandate for all Indian players on participation in domestic cricket when away from national team duty.
However, the IPL-winning captain left both Bumrah and Rohit behind in the list of highest-paid Indian cricketers, courtesy of his fresh IPL contract with Punjab Kings. The India batter was acquired for INR 26.75 crore at the auction on Sunday, making him the second most expensive player in IPL history.
Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja, both part of Grade A+ in the BCCI list, stands next on the list with a combined earning of INR 25 crore, after both were retained by their respective IPL franchises for INR 18 crore.
Hardik, who was retained by MI for INR 16.35 crore, stands next on the list, followed by IPL teammate Rohit, who was retained for INR 16.30 crore. The former is part of Grade A category in BCCI’s contract list, while Rohit is in Grade A+.