IPL 2019: Two new players enter the 50-crore club

The retention and the release process ahead of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2019 and there were a lot of repeat names. The players who’ve been trusted over the years to perform, teams don’t mind taking a huge cut from the purse for them. After confirming their contracts for the 12th edition, there are only 19 players in all who have crossed the fifty-crore mark as their combined salary in the years. 

Two new players made an entry into that list this time and they are Sunrisers Hyderabad’s big-hitter Yusuf Pathan and Kings XI Punjab captain Ravichandran Ashwin as both their teams retained them. Pathan, after this retention, has gross earnings of Rs 51.48 crores. While for the off-spinner Ashwin, his total IPL career salary has moved to a whopping Rs 57.29 crores.

Pathan had an extension of 1.9 crores while Ashwin had an addition of 7.6 crores in their total IPL salary. The 32-year-old also left behind Harbhajan Singh and Chris Gayle in the elite list of 50 crore earners.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni tops the list

Chennai Super Kings captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni sits pretty on the top of the list with his 12th season contract. His gross earnings amount to Rs 122.84 crores. The other players in the list include Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma on the 2nd position with Rs 116 crores and the Royal Challengers Bangalore maverick Virat Kohli with Rs 109 crores.

The list also features veteran cricketers like Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, and Yuvraj Singh. Among the overseas players, the chart includes Shane Watson of Chennai Super Kings, Kieron Pollard of Mumbai Indians, Chris Gayle of Kings XI Punjab, Sunil Narine of Kolkata Knight Riders, David Miller of KXIP with the South African AB de Villiers from RCB tops that list with total earnings of Rs 80.5 crores.

After the retentions, the teams are gearing up for the next big step the IPL 2019 auction which will be held in mid-December. The tournament is expected to start a bit early this time in the month of March with the World Cup 2019 as well as General Elections in India slated around the same time.

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