Team sports which were financially lucrative like Football, Basketball, NFL and American Baseball all were sports dominated by the western countries. The rise of Indian Cricket and few Franchise Cricket like the Big Bash and The Indian Premier League (IPL) have put Cricket in the same league as the other rich sports played.

IPL is the richest cricket league in the world as it is more lucrative than other cricket leagues like BBL or Hundred. Players who play in the richest league in cricket especially the Indian International automatically gets the lion share in this and thus making them amongst the richest players in the world.

Cricket is hugely popular in India, in fact the Indian viewership dwarfs’ other international sports. Media Rights and sponsorships play a huge role and the popularity of the sport only makes the individual cricket players stars and make them household names.

BCCI and other Rich Board Player Contracts

Most Countries categorises their players according to their current progress in the team.  Typically, A, B and so on.

Based on their categories, contract-based salaries are fixed for the player by the board for the year.

BCCI also gives mindboggling salaries to domestic players playing the domestic season and these players are also contracted to the BCCI. The board takes care of medical expenses of an injured player even during off season period.

BCCI, the world’s richest cricket body, allows families to travel with the players and also picks up their expenses.

Sponsorship and Endorsement

From the sticker put on their bats to the cars they drive, the cricketer is a living marketing tool. While the cricketer gets salary to play, their majority of income comes from Sponsorship and Endorsements

Big Corporates rope in the cricket stars who are influencers to become the face of their brands. Companies like Oppo, MRF, Nike, Pepsi etc. pay mindboggling sums to attract the players to become their brand ambassadors.

Franchise Leagues Contract

With the introduction of T20 cricket, a whole new lease of life was injected into the game. Franchise cricket made its entry into the traditional game with T20 game. Almost all the top cricket playing nation now have their domestic franchise T20 tournaments.

Based on the popularity and financial might of the individual cricket boards, the scale in terms of the tournament revenue differ. Indian Premier League is by far the biggest and the richest T20 franchise cricket tournament based on the popularity and the viewership of the game. All the current top players want to be part of the IPL making it the most competitive cricket tournament in the world.

The cricket players who make the most money are usually the ones who play for the biggest teams, such as the Indian Premier League or the Australian Big Bash League.

Some of the International cricketers who became overnight millionaires in the last edition of the IPL are Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Cameron Green.

The multi-million dollar deals for a two-month IPL tournament was unheard of in cricket and the T20 tournament has revolutionised Cricket not only for India but for all playing the tournament.

After 15 years, the IPL’s franchise values have outpaced the growth of even the NFL and NBA as quoted by Forbes

Business Interest outside the game

Cricketers now have employed financial and investment advisers. These advisers constantly help the cricketers to invest in Business to help their income grow. For Eg MS Dhoni has invested heavily in Agro business, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and many more cricketers have interest in Hospitality business.

Once their playing days are over these cricketers keep themselves busy in their businesses. With their fame and popularity, it generates lot of self-marketing helping the business to grow.

Online and Social Media Presence

Social Media and the online platform help leverage the fame and popularity of the cricketers to reach a wider audience. Cricketers specially the Indian Cricketers make millions from the social media platforms.

Some of these wealthiest cricketers have made millions by creating their social media, websites to sell products and services. They are the most subscribed celebrities in Youtube, Instagram etc.

Advertising

Cricketers get paid more than professional models. Their fitness, mass appeal and looks help them to be as popular as professionals. They are more popular than Bollywood celebrities who dominate the advertising field.

They endorse Brands in television ads, magazine ads, billboard campaigns, etc.

Sponsorships

One of the biggest sources of revenue is the sponsorship deals signed by the board, team and also individually.

Exorbitant amounts are paid to cricketers as they act as a huge marketing tool for the product they endorse.

From Bat sponsorship to cricket apparel sponsorships, players are endorsing multiple products when they are on the field or also when they are off the field.

While there is a direct sales boost for the products endorsed, the corporates get a significant brand promotional advantage from this.

Coaching and Commentating

Players continue to earn big money even post their retirement. They take up coaching roles or mentoring roles. With IPL, all senior retired player get associated to one of the franchise of the IPL in different capacity. New positions are created like “Director of Cricket”, “Team Mentor” to accommodate the yesteryear stars who still carry a significant fan following helping the franchise build their brand.

Commentating in cricket is mostly done by ex- cricketers to add glamour to the commentary box. Retired cricketers form a beeline to be part of the commentary team for popular sports channels which is also equally remunerative. Some are also paid to be part of a BCCI contracted commentary team thus making them the face of the commentary team whenever the national team plays. Their in-depth understanding of the game adds to the glamour of the game making viewing the game even more interesting.

Richest cricketers in the world

• Sachin Tendulkar

The God of Cricket is the greatest cricketer the game has seen. Post Don Bradman era, Sachin Tendulkar   always has been named the world’s best batsman in Test and ODI.

Sachin is the richest cricketer in the world with a net worth of $160 million.

Sachin was the first cricketer to score a ₹100-crore deal when he became the brand ambassador of MRF in 2001

• Virat Kohli

Next to the throne as Indian’s best batsman would be Virat. Virat Kohli, has a net worth of more than $130 million. He has featured in the Forbes magazine as one of the current highest paid athletes. Virat Kohli’s earnings makes him one of the richest cricketers in the world.

• MS Dhoni

MS Dhoni’s net worth is estimated to be $120 million. He is one of the most marketable athletes in the world

• Jacques Kallis 

This South African is considered to be the best Allrounder the sport has seen. His Net Worth is estimated at $70 Million 

• Ricky Ponting

Australia’s Ricky Ponting is the most successful captain in the history of the game. Ricky Ponting has a net worth of $65 million.

• Brian Lara

One of the greatest batsman of all time, Brian Lara is the most famous cricketer in West indies and is the current record holder for the highest individual test runs. Lara’s net worth is estimated to be $60 million.

• Virender Sehwag

Virender Sehwag net worth is over $50 million.

• Shane Warne

Australia’s greatest cricketer and the best Leg spinner, Shane Warne’s estimated Net Worth is appx. $50 Million

The Million Dollar Club …

• $40 Million Club
  • Yuvraj Singh
  • Shane Watson
  • Chris Gayle

• $ 30 Million Club
  • Steve Smith
  • Rohit Sharma

Conclusion

Cricketers do make a great living thanks to the different avenues to make millions from the game and outside it. Some of the richest sportsmen today are from cricket and with the glamourous T20 franchise sport played across the world, cricketers have great opportunity to earn beyond their salaries playing for the national side.

FAQ                   

Name the richest cricketer in the world ever?

Sachin Tendulkar, with a net worth of $170 million, is the richest cricketer in the world.