BCCI Rules Cricket! Babar Azam’s Annual Salary 12 Times Less Than Virat Kohli
Mumbai: It is no secret that due to the craze in India for cricket, the Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) dominates the cricket scape in terms of revenue. Because the BCCI wants to maintain the exclusivity of its players, the Indian cricketers do not participate in foreign leagues. The Indian board recently announced the annual contracts of cricketers and former India captain Virat Kohli retained his spot in the topmost A+ category of players earning Rs. 7 crores per year.
Now, compare that with what the most popular cricketer in Pakistan Babar Azam earns. The Pakistan captain earns 1.25 million PKR (Pakistan Rupee) per month. Amounting to 43,50,000 INR per year. That amount Babar earns is 12 times less than what Kohli rakes in.
Ravindra Jadeja was promoted to the A+ category while KL Rahul was demoted to Grade B as BCCI announced on Sunday the annual contract list for the senior men’s team for the 2022-23 season. The A+ category players earn Rs 7 crore.
Two other players in the A+ category apart from Kohli are Jasprit Bumrah and India captain Rohit Sharma. However, Bumrah has been out of action since last September with a lower back injury. He missed the T20 World Cup last year and is also in doubt for IPL 2023.
The likes of Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Rishabh Pant and Axar Patel constitute Grade A and will earn Rs 5 crore. Pant is likely to be out of action for majoruty of the year as he is recovering from a serious car accident that happened last December.
Kohli would soon be seen playing the IPL for the Royal Challengers Bangalore. RCB play their season opener against Mumbai Indians. It promises to be a cracker and Kohli would be a key player for his side this season.