Mahendra Singh Dhoni, one of the world’s most celebrated cricketer and India’s most successful captain has become the highest-paid cricketer in the history of the Indian Premier League. The veteran wicketkeeper batsman was also in the top category of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)’s central contract throughout his playing days.
According to the latest report by Times Now, MS Dhoni has earned over Rs 137 crores ($25.37 Million) from the 13 seasons of the IPL. Dhoni has represented Chennai SuperKings and Pune Super Giants in the tournament. He played for the Pune franchise in the 2016 and 2017 seasons when CSK was banned from the league.
As per BCCI, Dhoni’s IPL salary in the inaugural season Rs 11 crores ($1.5 Million). He earned similar amount in 2009 and 2010. From 2011, there was a dip in salary as he started getting Rs 8.2 Crores from CSK which continued till the 2013 season.
In 2014, the board increased the salaries of first choice retention players. Dhoni received Rs 12.5 Crores per year until 2015. In 2016, when he got associated with RPS, his salary remained the same for his two-year tenure with Pune. From 2018, the former Indian skipper is getting Rs 15 Crores as the BCCI increased the money for first choice retention players.
MS Dhoni is the second-most successful skipper of Indian Premier League. He has led CSK to three titles in 11 seasons. So far, he has played 204 IPL games and scored 4632 runs at an average of 41 with a strike-rate of 137.
In the race of IPL’s success rate, MS Dhoni is behind Mumbai Indians’ skipper Rohit Sharma as the latter has won five IPL trophies. Meanwhile, Rohit has earned INR 131 Crores from IPL. Whereas the Indian and RCB captain Virat Kohli is the third highest-paid IPL player with the earnings of INR 126 Crores.