Steve Smith trumps Virat Kohli as highest earning captain in cricket

Australian skipper Steve Smith earns more than his Indian counterpart Virat Kohli when it comes to the salary they are paid by their respective boards. The captain of Zimbabwe Graeme Cremer is the one who draws the least. Smith who is considered as the best Test batsman earns $ 1.649 million per year. On the other hand, the richest governing body, BCCI, pays Kohli approximately $ 1 million every year for his contribution to Indian cricket. However, he is the richest cricketer at the moment if the brand endorsements and IPL fees are included in his earnings.

Graeme Cremer is paid only $ 86,000 by Zimbabwe cricket board which is a staggering 20 times lesser than Smith. Also among the coaches, the Indian head coach Ravi Shastri draws $ 1.17 million from BCCI which is the maximum of the lot. Interestingly and surprisingly, Chandika Hathurusingha the coach of Bangladesh is paid more than any of the country’s top cricketers. But Pakistani cricketers are the worst paid in the era of modern cricket.

Detailed report

According to the detailed study by ESPN Cricinfo, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the highest paying governing body in the longest format of the game. “At $23,380 per game, India’s Test cricketers are the most well rewarded across the world, earning almost twice of what an Australian cricketer gets for a home Test (Australia has different fees for home and away Tests),” the report said.

It also cleared that the earnings of the players only include the money they earn by playing the sport for their country. “The figures are based on international cricket, and do not take into account player earnings from T20 leagues, other domestic engagements or endorsements,” the report added. Also, Ravi Shastri earns ‘less only than what the top player from Australia, England and India earns a year,’ as mentioned in the report.

Australian coach Darren Lehmann is the second in the list with a package of $ 0.55 million and is followed by England coach Trevor Bayliss to whom ECB pays $ 0.52 million. However, the report further said, “Pakistan are paying their South African coach Mickey Arthur three times more than any of what their topmost cricketers are earning.”

ESPN Cricinfo continued their detailed analysis and mentioned in the report that said, “A player in Pakistan’s top contract bracket will be an annual retainer ($74,014) that is marginally less than the top contract for an Ireland player ($75,000). Let that sink in (Ireland’s top salary retainer is also higher than those of Bangladesh and Zimbabwe). A player like Sarfraz Ahmed, Pakistan’s captain, will end up earning more in a year, of course — and he quadruples his base salary in 2017 — because he plays more often and plays across three formats.”