Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni have mostly been two of the highest-paid players of the IPL in the past and that’s because they don’t just bring a lot to their respective teams as cricketers, they also bring a lot to the brand value of the franchise because of their popularity across the country.
However, in the recent players’ retention, both Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni took a pay cut from their respective franchises in order to make sure that the other players get slightly hiked salaries. Their salaries came down to 15 crore INR and 12 crore INR from 17 crore INR and 15 crore INR respectively, as a result of which these two superstars are not the highest-paid players in the IPL now.
Here are the 3 Indian players who will receive more money than Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni in IPL 2022 –
Rohit Sharma (16 crore INR, Mumbai Indians)
Rohit Sharma being retained as the first choice player of Mumbai Indians and receiving a salary of 16 crore INR is not a surprise for anyone because he is the most successful captain ever in the history of the IPL with five titles and has been in good batting form as well in the recent times. It was only a couple of weeks ago that Rohit was the player of the series in his first T20I series as full time of captain of India against New Zealand.
Mumbai Indians clearly see Rohit as their captain for the next three years and hence a 16 crore INR contract for him is very understandable.
Rishabh Pant (16 crore INR, Delhi Capitals)
Rishabh Pant is the new, rising star of Indian cricket and is expected to be the flagbearer for India, moving into the next generation. He was given the leadership role of Delhi Capitals last season, and although he faltered a little bit in the playoffs, his leadership potential was clearly there to be seen with the way he managed some of the star players in the side, despite being a youngster himself.
Pant is someone who is going to be the face of the franchise of Delhi for a long time, and nobody ever had any doubts in their mind that the charismatic wicketkeeper-batsman would be the first retention of the Capitals.
Ravindra Jadeja (16 crore INR, CSK)
With MS Dhoni taking a pay cut for CSK and moving to the second position in the retention list, Ravindra Jadeja got the hike as he was retained as the first choice player of CSK with a salary of 16 Crore INR.
Jadeja has shown massive improvements with the bat since the resumption of cricket after COVID break and has probably been the most impactful player for the men in yellow in the last couple of seasons of the IPL. He is also seen as a leadership successor for MS Dhoni once Dhoni’s playing days are done
