Most expensive cricketer in the world: Virat Kohli leads the pack

The establishment of various cricket tournaments has been on the rise since the early 2000s, which has swelled up the earnings of the cricketers involved.

The cricket players not only earn a hefty amount of money plying their trade in these franchise leagues but also from the cricket board they represent. Brand endorsements, etc., further adds up to their salary incomes and often tallies to huge sums of money.

Team India batter Virat Kohli reportedly earns a monthly salary of USD 690k, making him the most expensive cricketer.

Most expensive cricketer in the world

Virat Kohli’s monthly salary - USD 690k

Former Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli leads the list of top earners in the sport, earning USD 690k every month as his base salary.

The swashbuckling batter, who is also the leading run-scorer in T20Is, is one of the three Indian players who boasts the top-tier Grade A+ central contract handed out by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah are the only two other Indian cricketers under the A+ contract.

He receives approximately USD 6k, 3.6k and 1.8k for playing a Test match, an ODI match and a T20 match, respectively.

Moreover, he earns roughly USD 2.05 million per season with Team Bengaluru in the Indian T20 League.

Dean Elgar’s monthly salary - USD 440k

South Africa’s Test team captain Dean Elgar is next on the list, with USD 440k as his monthly earnings.

Interestingly, Elgar hasn’t featured much in the cash-rich franchise cricket leagues around the globe and the above-mentioned figure is solely from his contract with the South Africa cricket board.

Joe Root’s monthly salary - USD 400k

Joe Root, who stepped down as the England cricket team’s Test captain in April 2022 following a five-year tenure, gets around USD 400k as his base salary from the English Cricket Board (ECB).

As far as global franchise tournaments are concerned, the right-handed batter has featured for Sydney Thunder in Big Bash League and Yorkshire in the Vitality T20 Blast.

Photo credit: Alamy