Rishabh Pant beats Virat Kohli; Shreyas Iyer earns more than Rohit: Check out India’s top 7 highest-earning cricketers.
India wicketkeeper batter Rishabh Pant surpassed former India captain Virat Kohli to become the highest paid Indian cricketer after he was acquired by Lucknow Super Giants for a record-breaking bid at the IPL 2025 auction. Shreyas Iyer, on the other hand, beat India captain Rohit Sharma to take the third spot on the list despite not having a BCCI contract.
Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer are among the top paid Indian cricketers(AP)
Pant, who was presented as part pf marquee set 1 at the IPL auction on Sunday in Jeddah, was signed by LSG for a jaw-dropping price of INR 27 crore. He hence became the most expensive player in the history of the league, beating Mitchell Starc’s previous record of INR 24.75 crore by KKR in IPL 2024 auction.
Top 15 buys at IPL 2025 Auction Share Via Copy Link Rishabh Pant ₹ 27 Cr DC LSG
Total Match
111
Total Runs
3284
Highest Score
128 runs
Shreyas Iyer ₹ 26.75 Cr KKR PBKS
Total Match
115
Total Runs
3127
Highest Score
96 runs
Venkatesh Iyer ₹ 23.75 Cr KKR KKR
Total Match
50
Total Runs
1326
Highest Score
104 runs
Wickets
3
Best Bowling
2/29
Arshdeep Singh ₹ 18 Cr PBKS PBKS
Total Match
65
Total Runs
29
Highest Score
10 runs
Wickets
76
Best Bowling
5/32
Yuzvendra Chahal ₹ 18 Cr RR PBKS
Total Match
260
Total Runs
37
Highest Score
8 runs
Wickets
205
Best Bowling
5/40
Jos Buttler ₹ 15.75 Cr RR GT
Total Match
107
Total Runs
3582
Highest Score
124 runs
KL Rahul ₹ 14 Cr LSG DC
Total Match
132
Total Runs
4683
Highest Score
132 runs
Trent Boult ₹ 12.50 Cr RR MI
Total Match
104
Total Runs
83
Highest Score
17 runs
Wickets
121
Best Bowling
4/18
Jofra Archer ₹ 12.50 Cr MI RR
Total Match
35
Total Runs
195
Highest Score
27 runs
Wickets
46
Best Bowling
3/15
Josh Hazlewood ₹ 12.50 Cr RCB RCB
Total Match
12
Total Runs
–
Highest Score
–
Wickets
12
Best Bowling
3/24
Mohammed Siraj ₹ 12.25 Cr RCB GT
Total Match
93
Total Runs
109
Highest Score
14 runs
Wickets
93
Best Bowling
4/21
Mitchell Starc ₹ 11.75 Cr KKR DC
Total Match
41
Total Runs
105
Highest Score
29 runs
Wickets
51
Best Bowling
4/15
Phil Salt ₹ 11.50 Cr DC RCB
Total Match
21
Total Runs
653
Highest Score
89 runs
Ishan Kishan ₹ 11.25 Cr MI SRH
Total Match
105
Total Runs
2644
Highest Score
99 runs
Wickets
–
Best Bowling
–
Jitesh Sharma ₹ 11 Cr PBKS RCB
Total Match
40
Total Runs
730
Highest Score
49 runs
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With Pant part of Grade B category in BCCI’s annual player retainership 2023-24, worth INR 3 crore annually, it leaves the star cricketer with a total of INR 30 crore earnings annually. Pant was demoted to Grade B category as he was out of action since December 2022 owing to a car accident and hence was recovering during the time of the announcement. He was previously part of Grade A category and is likely to return to that list or even earn a promotion to A+, given his significant role in the Indian squad across formats, when BCCI announce the fresh contract list next March.
Pant hence pipped Kohli in the list of highest-paid Indian cricketers, with the 36-year-old earning a combined INR 28 crore. He was retained by Royal Challengers Bengaluru for INR crore, and is part of Grade A+ in the BCCI list, which is worth INR 7 crore.
Iyer and Ishan Kishan were the two players who were removed from the BCCI contract list for 2023/24 after they disobeyed the board’s mandate for all Indian players on participation in domestic cricket when away from national team duty.
However, the IPL-winning captain left both Bumrah and Rohit behind in the list of highest-paid Indian cricketers, courtesy of his fresh IPL contract with Punjab Kings. The India batter was acquired for INR 26.75 crore at the auction on Sunday, making him the second most expensive player in IPL history.
Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja, both part of Grade A+ in the BCCI list, stands next on the list with a combined earning of INR 25 crore, after both were retained by their respective IPL franchises for INR 18 crore.
Hardik, who was retained by MI for INR 16.35 crore, stands next on the list, followed by IPL teammate Rohit, who was retained for INR 16.30 crore. The former is part of Grade A category in BCCI’s contract list, while Rohit is in Grade A+.
