Indian cricketers and their salaries 2018-19

Grade B

15. KL Rahul – ₹3 Crores

KL Rahul has had a torrid time in the second half of 2018. The right-hander struggled to put bat to ball and had a miserable time. Despite getting several opportunities, he failed to repay the faith management put in him. Furthermore, as an insult to the wound, he invited a major controversy with some of the comments that he made on the talk show ‘Koffee with Karan’.

Thus, he was suspended from playing any form of cricket. However, the opening batsman was fortunate enough to find his place back in the Indian team after the suspension was lifted. He seems to be highly determined now and values every opportunity much more than he did earlier. KL Rahul succeeded in retaining the same contract as it was last year.

16. Umesh Yadav – ₹3 Crores

Inconsistency and Umesh Yadav go hand-in-hand. However, it isn’t this Vidarbha pacer who is at complete fault here. He has had his opportunities limited in the last few years even though he did well when he had a chance.

This start-stop kind of career has somewhat affected his form and the sudden call-ups into the eleven didn’t do much good for him. Moreover, the management hasn’t backed him much and he was dropped from the side just after one or two poor shows. The BCCI was kind enough to understand the various intricacies involved in the sport and didn’t alter Yadav’s contract.

17. Yuzvendra Chahal – ₹3 Crores

Many might have expected Yuzvendra Chahal to bag a ‘Grade A’ contract just like his spin twin Kuldeep Yadav. However, that didn’t happen as Chahal doesn’t ply his trade in Test cricket. He has been limited to white-ball cricket and hasn’t played all the games as a part of the team’s rotation policy with the spinners.

Though, the leg-spinner made a mark whenever he has got an opportunity. He has retained his pay scale from last year. With some good performances in the next few months, Chahal will eye at an upgraded contract next time around.

18. Hardik Pandya – ₹3 Crores

In the period defined for these contracts, Hardik Pandya hardly played any international cricket. He got injured right in September 2018 and was thus ruled out for nearly two months. Then, when he made a comeback into the team during the Australia series, he didn’t get an opportunity in the playing eleven for the fourth Test.

At this point in time, Koffee with Karan episode was aired putting a halt to his career. He then made a comeback in the New Zealand tour after his suspension was lifted. However, he again got injured and was ruled out of the series against Australia. These injuries might have affected Pandya’s contract improvement but he managed to retain the existing one.

*Exclusions – Kuldeep Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Dinesh Karthik