What Are the Salary Packages of Cricketers
Cricketers do not earn a single fixed salary. A professional cricketer’s pay package is built from four streams: an annual central-contract retainer from their national board, match fees for every international game, a league contract such as an IPL deal, and endorsement income. In India, the top male players on the BCCI’s 2025-26 central contracts earn a retainer of up to Rs 5 crore a year, plus match fees and IPL contracts that can be worth far more than the retainer itself.
How a cricketer’s salary package is built
Most fans see only the headline auction price or the contract grade, but a cricketer’s total earnings come from several layers that stack on top of each other. Understanding each layer explains why two players in the same team can take home very different amounts.
- Central-contract retainer: A fixed annual payment from the national board for being part of the contracted squad. It is paid whether or not the player appears in every match, and it is the foundation of a full-time international cricketer’s income.
- Match fees: A separate payment for every international match played, on top of the retainer. The more a player plays, the more match fees accumulate over a season.
- League contracts: Payments from T20 leagues such as the IPL, where franchises pay auction prices or retention fees for a season’s services. For many players, this is the largest single component of annual income.
- Endorsements and commercial deals: Income from bat and kit sponsorships, advertising, and personal brand partnerships. This varies enormously and is typically significant only for high-profile players.
- Bonuses and prize money: Team bonuses for series and tournament wins, plus shares of prize money at global events. These are irregular and depend on results.
BCCI central contracts for 2025-26: retainers and grades
The BCCI’s central-contract system for the 2025-26 cycle, covering 1 October 2025 to 30 September 2026, made a major change: the top A+ grade was scrapped, so Grade A became the highest tier. The men’s list covers 30 players, and the women’s list follows the same three-tier structure at lower values.
| Contract group | Men’s annual retainer | Women’s annual retainer | Men’s players in 2025-26 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grade A | Rs 5 crore | Rs 50 lakh | Jasprit Bumrah, Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja |
| Grade B | Rs 3 crore | Rs 30 lakh | Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant, Suryakumar Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer, Washington Sundar |
| Grade C | Rs 1 crore | Rs 10 lakh | Axar Patel, Rinku Singh, Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson, Arshdeep Singh, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shivam Dube, Ravi Bishnoi, Dhruv Jurel, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Abhishek Sharma, Sai Sudharsan |
Two features of this list stand out. First, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma moved from the old A+ grade to Grade B after stepping away from T20Is and Test cricket, which is why their retainers fell from the previous cycle’s Rs 7 crore. Second, the list rewards players who are active across formats, which is why all-format performers such as Gill, Bumrah, and Jadeja sit at the top.
Match fees: what players earn per international game
Match fees sit on top of the retainer. Since October 2022, the BCCI has paid the same match fees to men and women internationals, a parity step that made India one of the few boards to equalise per-match pay across genders.
| Format | Match fee per game (men and women) |
|---|---|
| Test match | Rs 15 lakh |
| One Day International | Rs 6 lakh |
| T20 International | Rs 3 lakh |
A busy international season therefore adds a large sum to the retainer. A player who features in, say, eight Tests, twelve ODIs, and ten T20Is in a year would collect substantial match fees on top of the annual contract. This is also why availability matters so much: a player who is injured or out of the side does not just lose selection, but also the per-match income that goes with it.
IPL pay: auction prices, retentions, and match fees
For Indian players, the IPL is usually the biggest single source of earnings. Franchises pay players through auction purchases or pre-season retentions, and from the 2025 season the league also added a match fee of Rs 7.5 lakh per game, worth Rs 1.05 crore to a player who appears in all 14 league matches.
The record for the biggest IPL deal belongs to Rishabh Pant, who was bought by Lucknow Super Giants for Rs 27 crore at the IPL 2025 mega auction after Delhi Capitals declined to match the bid with their Right to Match card. Shreyas Iyer was sold to Punjab Kings for Rs 26.75 crore in the same auction, briefly holding the record before Pant’s bid. These figures show how the IPL has changed cricketer pay: a single season’s IPL contract can be worth several times a player’s annual central-contract retainer.
Not every IPL player earns at that level. Squad players and uncapped domestic cricketers earn far less, which is exactly why the league’s per-match fee was introduced: it lifts the earnings of players whose base salaries are modest. Retentions also matter. A franchise can retain core players before an auction, often at prices agreed with the player, giving established stars income security without going through the auction.
How other national boards pay their cricketers
Pay structures differ widely around the world. England and Australia run their own central-contract systems with annual retainers plus match fees, while several smaller boards pay lower retainers and rely more heavily on match fees and league income. The general pattern is the same everywhere, though: the richest boards pay the largest retainers, and players from every country can add league earnings on top.
Two global trends are worth noting. First, franchise leagues now compete with national boards for players’ time, and boards have responded by raising retainers for their most important players. Second, women’s cricket pay has grown quickly from a low base, driven by leagues such as the Women’s Premier League and by boards increasing women’s retainers, even though a large gap with men’s retainers remains.
Endorsements, bonuses, and the pay-parity debate
For the biggest stars, endorsements can rival or even exceed on-field income. Bat sponsorships, kit deals, and advertising campaigns reward visibility, and players who perform in high-profile tournaments attract the most commercial interest. For the majority of professionals, though, endorsements are a small share of earnings, and the contract plus match fees do the heavy lifting.
The pay-parity debate centres on the gap between retainers. India’s women internationals receive the same match fees as the men, Rs 15 lakh per Test, Rs 6 lakh per ODI, and Rs 3 lakh per T20I, but the top women’s retainer is Rs 50 lakh against Rs 5 crore for the top men. Supporters of faster parity argue that the women’s game now draws large audiences and deserves faster convergence, while boards point to differences in revenue and to the pace at which the women’s game is professionalising. India’s Women’s World Cup triumph in 2025, and the BCCI’s Rs 51 crore reward announced for that win, added fresh momentum to the debate.
What early-career and domestic cricketers earn
The salary picture is very different below international level. Domestic cricketers are paid match fees set by their boards, and state-level players earn far less than internationals. Many also earn income from local leagues, club cricket, and coaching. Breaking into a state side, then into an IPL squad, and then into the national contracted list is the standard path by which a cricketer’s earnings rise from modest domestic fees to a full professional package.
This is why the IPL auction matters so much to young players. A single strong domestic season can turn into an IPL contract worth far more than a year of domestic match fees, and that contract is often the financial turning point of a young cricketer’s career.
Frequently asked questions
What is the highest salary package of a cricketer in India?
The highest Indian package combines a BCCI Grade A retainer of Rs 5 crore, match fees of Rs 15 lakh per Test, Rs 6 lakh per ODI, and Rs 3 lakh per T20I, plus an IPL contract. Rishabh Pant’s Rs 27 crore IPL deal with Lucknow Super Giants is the largest single IPL contract on record.
How much does the BCCI pay centrally contracted players?
In the 2025-26 cycle, men’s retainers are Rs 5 crore for Grade A, Rs 3 crore for Grade B, and Rs 1 crore for Grade C. Women’s retainers are Rs 50 lakh, Rs 30 lakh, and Rs 10 lakh for the same grades. Match fees are paid separately and equally to men and women.
Do cricketers get paid per match in addition to their contract?
Yes. Indian internationals receive Rs 15 lakh per Test, Rs 6 lakh per ODI, and Rs 3 lakh per T20I on top of their annual retainer. IPL players additionally receive Rs 7.5 lakh per match from the 2025 season onward.
Who is the highest-paid cricketer in IPL history?
Rishabh Pant holds the record after Lucknow Super Giants bought him for Rs 27 crore at the IPL 2025 mega auction, overtaking Shreyas Iyer’s Rs 26.75 crore deal with Punjab Kings in the same auction.
Do women cricketers earn the same as men?
Match fees are equal in India, but annual retainers are not. The top women’s retainer is Rs 50 lakh, compared with Rs 5 crore for the top men, so the overall pay gap remains wide even though per-match pay has been equalised.
How much do domestic cricketers earn?
Domestic players earn board-set match fees that are far below international pay. For most, an IPL contract or a national call-up is the step that transforms earnings from modest domestic fees into a full professional package.