Indian Cricket Players Salary: Monthly Pay, Match Fees & Full Earnings Breakdown

Wondering how much India’s top cricketers actually earn? Here’s the answer straight away: Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, and Ravindra Jadeja—India’s A+ players—take home INR 7 crore per year from BCCI contracts. Monthly, that’s around INR 58.33 lakh. Grade A players such as KL Rahul, Shubman Gill and Hardik Pandya receive INR 5 crore, INR 3 crore and INR 1 crore per annum, respectively, whereas B and C receive INR 3 crore and INR 1 crore, respectively. 

Besides this, every international game will create additional match fees of INR 15 lakh in Tests, INR 6 lakh in ODIs, and INR 3 lakh in T20Is.

But that’s not the whole story. Their incomes may be skyrocketed by the IPL deals and endorsing deals, such as Rishabh Pant, who made INR 320 million in BCCI salary payments and the IPL 2025 partnership. 

Curious to see how all Indian cricketers stack up in total earnings, monthly pay, match fees, and IPL contracts? Keep reading the blog for the full breakdown—you won’t believe some of these numbers.

Indian Cricket Players’ Salary Structure: Central Contracts Explained

The national players are remunerated by the Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) in a central-contract system. Players are categorized into four grades, and each grade is given an annual retainer. 

Indian cricket players’ salary includes Grade A+ earning INR 7 crore per annum; Grade A earning INR 5 crore per annum; Grade B earning INR 3 crore per annum; Grade C earning INR 1 crore per annum, respectively. These retainers assure a minimum income with or without form or choice. 

For the 2024-25 season, the BCCI’s A+ list comprises Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, and Ravindra Jadeja, boasting the salaries of Indian cricket players. The A grade includes Mohammed Siraj, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya, Mohammed Shami, and Rishabh Pant. 

SUGGESTED READ: BCCI Central Contracts 2025: Shreyas Iyer & Ishan Kishan Return, Rishabh Pant Promoted

Grade B consists of Suryakumar Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Shreyas Iyer. The C bracket contains emerging names like Rinku Singh, Tilak Varma, Ruturaj Gaikwad, and Washington Sundar. 

What Do These Grades Mean?

According to the Central Contract System of the BCCI, the players are divided into four distinct grades, which are entirely based on their performance and role in the team. Here is how the grades play a significant role in shaping Indian cricketers’ salaries. 

• Grade A+: INR 7 crore of annual retainer. Only players who are essential in all formats are entitled to this. Their endorsements are also highly profitable, and they have the highest salaries.
• Grade A: Indian players here earn INR 5 crore per year. These cricketers are core members in at least two formats and often lead or anchor the side.
• Grade B: With INR 3 crore/year, this level is given to regular players who have not established themselves in any format.
• Grade C: This grade includes INR 1 crore, and it is practically a developmental grade of young, promising cricketing players in the periphery of the national team.

Monthly Pay: Indian Cricketer Salary Per Month

Ever wonder how the Indian cricketer’s salary per month is calculated? Divide the annual retainer by twelve, and you get an approximate salary per month. In this system, Grade A+ players pocket about INR 58.33 lakh every month, while Grade A players earn around INR 41.67 lakh, Grade B players ₹25 lakh, and Grade C players earn INR 8.33 lakh. 

It’s worth noting that the Indian cricket players’ monthly salary depends on selection. If a Grade A+ player misses games through injury, their salary per match (explained below) will also drop, but the retainer remains intact. 

This steady monthly Indian cricket players explains why central contracts are coveted even in the IPL era.

Per Match Salary of Indian Cricketers: Test, ODI & T20 Fees

Beyond the annual retainer, every international appearance brings a match fee, which automatically adds up to the salaries of Indian cricket players. Each Indian cricketer earns INR 15 lakh for a Test match, INR 6 lakh for an ODI, and INR ₹3 lakh for a T20I. 

These figures are fixed regardless of grade. For players who participate in most Tests over a season, the BCCI offers an additional bonus of INR 28 lakh per match to encourage red-ball commitment.

This structure means a regular Test specialist can amass match-fee earnings that rival their retainer. For example, 

Imagine a young Indian cricketer in Grade C (annual contract ₹1 crore). If he plays just 5 Test matches and 5 ODIs in a year, he gets:

₹15 lakh per Test × 5 = ₹75 lakh

₹6 lakh per ODI × 5 = ₹30 lakh

That’s ₹1.05 crore from match fees alone!

So, with only 10 international matches, his match fees can actually cross his yearly contract amount. This shows how handsomely the BCCI rewards players who get picked regularly for India.

Thus, the salary of Indian cricketers per match adds significant value on top of their base pay and underlines why the players’ salaries don’t tell the full story without considering appearances.

How the Fees Compare?

• Test matches: INR 15 lakh per appearance; the highest Indian cricket players salary. Traditional format, longest duration, highest fee.
  
• ODIs: INR 6 lakh per match. One-day games offer a mid-range payout.
  
• T20Is: INR 3 lakh per match. Shortest format, but the Indian cricketers salary per month often benefits from the sheer number of T20s played.
  

Full Earnings Breakdown: Indian Cricket Team Salary vs IPL Millions

Indian cricketers earn from two main sources: BCCI central contracts and match fees, plus highly lucrative IPL salaries. The central contracts are graded A+ (₹7 crore), A (₹5 crore), B (₹3 crore), and C (₹1 crore), with match fees of ₹15 lakh per Test. 

Central contracts are not only a part of the Indian cricket players salary. Many stars pocket far more from the Indian Premier League (IPL) than from their India contract.

• Consider Rishabh Pant: He made INR 270 million through the Delhi Capitals and INR 50 million through the BCCI contract in 2025.
• Shreyas Iyer made INR 267.5 million out of his IPL deal as opposed to INR 30 million out of the national contract.

Here is the brief snapshot of the top Indian cricket players salary, combining IPL deals and national deals:

• Rishabh Pant: INR 270 M + INR 50 M = INR 320 M
  
• Shreyas Iyer: INR 267.5 M + INR 30 M = INR 297.5 M
  
• Virat Kohli: INR 210 m + INR 70 M = INR 280 M
  
• Ravindra Jadeja & Jasprit Bumrah: INR 180 M + INR 70 M = INR 250 M
  
• Rohit Sharma: INR 163 M + INR 70 M = INR 233 M 

These comparisons highlight that the Indian cricket players salary from BCCI contracts are generous but still modest as compared to franchise salaries. Although BCCI central contracts are secure, with fixed retainers and match fees on international appearances, IPL is usually much higher than those, particularly in the hands of the most successful stars. 

Franchise auctions are not only based on a skill factor but are also based on marketability, fan following and recent performance, and such players like Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer get multi-crore deals, higher than the annual salary of the players by the BCCI. 

Hence, fans argue about the Indian cricket salary per month, but they do not pay much attention to these huge IPL contracts.

Indian Cricket Players Salary List 2022 and 2020: What’s Changed?

The BCCI central contracts of Indian cricket players remained largely unchanged between 2020 and 2022 with the system of four grades. 

Player List Shifts

The elite A+  grade had Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah in 2020-21, with each of them being able to maintain the same performance during 2022-23. Grade A was when Rishabh Pant was promoted after his return performance, and KL Rahul was consistent, whereas Grade B was when emerging talents such as Shreyas Iyer and Shardul Thakur emerged. 

The C grade grew with potential new faces like Shubman Gill and Suryakumar Yadav being the first players to receive central contracts, as it is observed that the BCCI is working on the future generation.(3)

The Indian cricketers’ salary list 2022 reflected the current pay scale, even though there were shuffles.

As one goes back to 2020, the image was the same. There was also the same four-level structure, where a Grade A+ cricketer earned INR 7 crore and a Grade C player earned INR 1 crore. The Indian cricketer’s salary per month in 2020 was therefore similar to the existing ones, although players such as Ravichandran Ashwin and Virat Kohli were in higher grades at the time. 

It is also worth mentioning that the incomes of the promoted or demoted players are also rapidly changing. To illustrate, Rishabh Pant, who was demoted to Grade B following his accident, is set to resume Grade A in 2024-25, increasing his retainer by INR 3 crore to INR 5 crore. These movements demonstrate the impact of performance and fitness on the salary of the Indian cricketer per month in 2022 and beyond.

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