Indian Cricketer’s Pay Grade: All You Need to Know
Athletes are known to be one of the richest people in the world. Especially those who belong in the higher leagues or what we call pro-athletes since they most probably won cash prizes on games, their fans support them and purchase their merchandise, and these athletes once entered battles in international-level competitions or global games, they are not just representing themselves as a player but they are also representing their own country which is why the salary of an athlete is extremely high.
Another reason for their enormous amount of salary is that we love watching them. However, some of us are from various corners of the world and we could not really attend every game or sports event that our favorite athlete will participate in. This is why we watch them on our televisions and in the comfort of our homes.
We also use YouTube for viewing their games, highlights, and a repeat of their previous games. It is all thanks to media, that both us and our favourite athletes benefit from it.
The media pays the athletes, leagues, and teams because they wanted to broadcast their games so the rest of the world could see using gadgets and televisions. These modes of video broadcasting pay them millions or sometimes billions of dollars so that they could showcase it to the world.
It is reported that most athletes earn an annual salary of about a ginormous amount of 100 million dollars just for a game! The prominent leagues like Tiger Woods and other professional pro-athletes are getting paid with this amount. They seem pretty overpaid if I am going to be brutally honest.
In this article, we will be tackling how much cricketers are paid. Most specifically one of the bigger leagues of cricket, the Indian cricketers. Are they paid highly just like the other famous athletes? Do they really deserve the number of payments they receive every single time that they play in cricket matches?
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The Segments of an Indian Cricketer’s Salary
Fixed Amount of an Indian Cricketer’s Salary
In the competitive world of cricket, the Indian players are considered as one of the top leagues and pro-cricketers. They are also one of the highest-paid cricketers. An Indian A+ grade cricketer is usually paid about Rs 7 crore or approximately around 952, 922 US dollars a year. An A grade Indian cricketer, they are usually paid around Rs 5 crore or 680, 690 in the United States of America currency. For B grade Indian players of cricket, Rs 3 crore are their usual salaries in which amounts to 408,413 US dollars. For the players in the C grade level, these cricketers are normally paid about Rs 1 crore annually which equals around 136, 000 US dollars. All these digits are fixed amounts of what a cricket player will withdraw regardless of the number of plays the cricketer has performed.
Fees and Earnings of Indian Cricketers in the Different Formats of the Games
Test matches charge Indian cricketers with a fixed amount of Rs 15 lakh which is converted to about 20,000 US dollars whenever they participate in the cricket game format. As for One Day International cricket game formats, an Indian cricketer earns about Rs 6 lakh or approximately more than 8,000 Us dollars. For the T20 cricket matches, Indian players are usually paid about 4,000 US dollars. And as for those Indian cricketers who did not make it until the XI, they will withdraw about 50% of the match fee.
Additional Payment for Indian Cricketers or ‘Bonus Money’
These said fees are just what is shown to the surface. But what most people do not know is Indian cricketers get paid an additional amount of money or shall I say a “bonus money” as a reward. Now, talk about lavishing in money! Changed your mind to be a cricketer, yet?
The Indian opener for the games, Aakash Chopra, has revealed in his YouTube channel some surprising and intriguing details regarding the money that Indian cricketers received. Apparently, Indian cricketers are paid an extra amount of Rs 7 lakh or about 9,000 US dollars if the Indian cricketer scored a double-century in the cricket match. If the batsman of the Indian cricket team scores a century, he will be rewarded with an amount of Rs 5 lakh or 6,800 US dollars. For the bowlers, if their picks amount to 5, they will be paid an amount of Rs 5 lakh like the batsman. (Take note that this bonus money that the players receive is not a part of the match fee.)
Aakash Chopra mentioned that one of the most popular Indian cricketers, R Ashwin, has scored a century and dismissed 8 batsmen of the opposing team during the second Chennai Test against the English cricketers. The opener, Chopra, subtly disclosed that the cricketer, Ashwin, would have had his bonus money with an amount of Rs 25 lakh which is equal to 34, 000 US dollars with only just a single Test match to play.
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Additional Cash Bonuses for Indian Cricketers
Another luxury that Indian cricketers experience is that whenever they participate in the games, especially in the higher formats such as One Day Internationals, or World Cups, the Board of Control for Cricket in India, awards the Indian cricketers who made phenomenal wins in matches. Back in early 2020, the board of cricketers had declared that they awarded a cash bonus to the Indian team with the amount of Rs 5 crore, equivalent to 680, 000 US dollars, after they took home the bacon during the match in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
As for the upcoming events, the Indian team is already preparing themselves for the upcoming match on 2021/22, which is the international match season for cricket. Which is one of the grandest events for it is the Cricket World Test Championship final against the New Zealander team. It will be expected that the fittest and vegan cricketer, Virat Kohli, will play about 5 Tests matches against the English team following the International Cricket Council event.
Are Athletes Overpaid or do they really Deserve it?
To conclude this article, I will express my opinion about an athlete’s salary. It is quite obvious that athletes are pretty much overpaid among most occupations. It is somewhat unfair because we live in a world where the ones who show incredible effort to produce an output of their career deserve the salary and payment because it took great effort. A person must be paid according to the amount of effort they give to society and how impactful, convenient, and helpful their works are for the economy.
Directing the conversation to Indian cricketers, I think the Indians are treating their Indian cricketers very well and pays them how they deserve it. They are not as overly paid, unlike the popular higher leagues pro-athletes. In addition, Indian cricketers show a lot of effort when it comes to training and playing in the field since they train really hard for higher levels of cricket matches. And it is already mentioned in this article that Indian cricket has to reach a quota in order to be paid accordingly to the number of games they play and this drives them to try and be better cricketers.
Indian cricketers truly deserve the payment they receive since their countless efforts and hard work reflects it. Unlike most athletes overseas, although I do not want to sound biased because, in my opinion, Indians show more effort in contributing to the success of cricket, unlike the others.
Sources:
- https://www.timesnownews.com/sports/cricket/article/7-lakh-for-double-century-5-lakh-for-century-former-india-player-reveals-bonus-money-paid-to-test-cricketers/768199#:~:text=Indian%20cricketers%20are%20among%20the,Rs%201%20crore%20per%20year.
- https://bleacherreport.com/articles/366795-do-athletes-get-paid-too-much-money
Main Image Source: Pixabay
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