Virat Kohli is not the top earner via contracts and match fees, Steve Smith & Joe Root beat him to the punch

Steve Smith and other Australian players' salaries were recently increased by Cricket Australia after a dispute between the players and the board

By: Score Keepers |
October 20, 2017 12:24 pm

Virat Kohli is clearly the highest earning cricketer in the world at this moment. But, the salary Kohli gets from Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) does not make him the highest paid captain via contracts and match fees. BCCI is a clear winner when it comes to being the richest cricket board around the world, but still, the Indian skipper does not top the list of the highest paid captain. According to ESPNCricinfo, the Australian captain Steven Smith is the highest paid captain in the cricketing fraternity. Smith is way ahead of Kohli in this list. The Indian skipper receives nowhere near the amount Smith gets. He is not even the second on the list as Joe Root misses out on the first spot marginally.

Here are the list players ranked according to the income they get through contracts and match fees –

Team Player Role INR (per year)
Australia Steven Smith Captain 9.6 crores
England Joe Root Test captain 9 crores
India Virat Kohli Captain 6.5 crores
South Africa Faf du Plessis Captain 3.8 crores
Sri Lanka Angelo Mathews Former captain 2.1 crores
Pakistan Sarfraz Ahmed Captain 1.95 crores
West Indies Jason Holder Test, ODI captain 1.76 crores
New Zealand Kane Williamson Captain 1.63 crores
Bangladesh Shakib Al Hasan Former captain 91 lakhs
Zimbabwe Graeme Creamer Captain 58.5 lakhs

Though Kohli beats other players when it comes to earnings via advertisement and other deals, according to Forbes, Kohli earns nothing when compared to other global sportspersons. He earns nearly one-fifth of what football stars Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo make.

Top team captains like Smith, Root, Kohli and Faf du Plessis also receive a share of their respective boards’ revenue. Kohli and other international players get 13 per cent of BCCI’s profits as per the number of matches they have played.

Highest paid coach –

India’s head coach Ravi Shastri is the highest-paid coach in the world with earnings of $1.17 million per year. Even Australia’s Darren Lehmann is far behind him with $0.55 million per year.