Indian Test captain Virat Kohli has become the most expensive cricketer in this edition of IPL, earning a pay package of 15 crores.
This year’s pay packages were much smaller than last year’s, when Yuvraj Singh was paid a whopping 16 crores by the Delhi Daredevils, and Dinesh Karthik was the second highest paid cricketer with 12 lakhs. Sadly, both the teams have released the players from their contracts, clearly indicating that the prices are too high for the teams.
Virat Kohli’s pay package is higher than those of other big stars like MS Dhoni (12.5 crores), Shikhar Dhawan (12.5 crores), and Gautam Gambhir (10 crores). But does Virat Kohli deserve this amount?
Kohli’s last outing with his home team RCB was good, but not the best in the league. His total tally of 505 runs was the fifth highest in the league, but whether it deserves the highest amount is up for question.
While it is without doubt that Kohli draws in big crowds for all the matches, the same team also has AB de Villiers, who was voted the best player of 2015 by the ICC. AB is getting paid about 9.5 crores. Similarly, other players who have done very well in the IPL, like Australia’s David Warner who scored the most runs, doesn’t feature even in the Top 10 list of salaries.
However, one thing is clear. With Virat Kohli and Dinesh Karthik being released from their sides this year, the age of sky-rocketing salaries are over. It looks like the owners of the sides are willing to bet on actual performances, and not past reputations.
