The cricketers were offered huge salaries in the first edition of the IPL itself which had taken place in 2008, but as the tournament has progressed and got richer and richer, the cricketers have got further enhancements in their salaries and there are many cricketers at the moment who earn more than a million dollar (almost 7.3 crore INR) for one season of the IPL.
Here is a comparison of the salaries of some of the cricketers in IPL 2008 and IPL 2020 –
8.Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli was picked by Royal Challengers Bangalore from the U19 players’ draft ahead of IPL 2008 at a price of close to 20 Lakh INR. While RCB gradually released every single player they signed for the first season of IPL, they never released Kohli.
When RCB retained Kohli’s services ahead of the mega IPL 2018 auction, they announced that they would be paying Kohli a salary of 17 crore INR per season for the next three seasons.
7.MS Dhoni
MS Dhoni was the most expensive player in the first ever IPL auction which took place in 2008. Chennai Super Kings had managed to secure the services of the former Indian captain at a whopping price of 6 crore INR.
Dhoni has represented CSK in every IPL season so far, except IPL 2016 and 2017 where CSK was suspended and Dhoni featured for a new IPL franchise Rising Pune Supergiant.
As CSK came back to IPL in 2018, they retained Dhoni’s services again and they are currently paying Dhoni a salary of 15 crore INR per season.
6.Rohit Sharma
Rohit Sharma was not really a superstar when he was put on sale in the IPL auction of 2008. However, he had still shown the glimpses of his talent in a couple of games of the T20 World Cup in 2007 and Deccan Chargers bought him at a price of 3 crore INR.
12 years down the line, Rohit is the most successful IPL captain of all time and is the first retained player of Mumbai Indians who are paying him a salary of 15 crore INR per season.
5.AB De Villiers
AB de Villiers was, surprisingly, sold at a very low amount of only 1.2 crore INR in IPL 2008 and his services were secured by Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals). However, Delhi released De Villiers a few years later and he was then bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore where the South African talisman has had a very successful stint on an individual front, even though he hasn’t won a trophy there so far.
De Villiers is currently the second retained player of RCB and will get a salary of 11 crore INR in IPL 2020.
4.Dwayne Bravo
Dwayne Bravo was not bought by anyone in the IPL auction of 2008. He was later signed by Mumbai Indians as a replacement for Lasith Malinga and the West Indies all-rounder was paid an amount of less than 1 crore INR for his stint.
Bravo’s salary in IPL 2008 at Mumbai Indians was only 60 Lakh 24 Thousand INR. The 36-year old will get a salary of 6.4 crore INR in IPL 2020 at his current franchise Chennai Super Kings.
3.Ravichandran Ashwin
Ravichandran Ashwin was a domestic Indian cricketer in 2008 and was not officially a part of the first IPL auction, but BCCI had allowed the franchises to sign domestic young players outside the auction and CSK had signed Ashwin at a salary of 12 Lakh INR per season.
Ashwin is currently a part of the Delhi Capitals set-up and will get a salary of 7.6 crore INR in IPL 2020.
2.Chris Gayle
Chris Gayle was bought at a price of 3.2 crore INR in IPL 2008 auction by Kolkata Knight Riders. Now if we see Gayle’s current IPL salary at Kings XI Punjab, it’s only 2 crore INR. So, it might seem as if Gayle’s salary got decreased as IPL progressed.
But, it’s not entirely true. Gayle might earn only 2 crore INR in IPL 2020, but when he was playing for his previous franchise RCB, he was earning an amount of 7.5 crore INR per season till 2017.
1.Shikhar Dhawan
Shikhar Dhawan was also an uncapped Indian cricketer in 2008 and was signed outside the auction by Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) at a price of 12 Lakh INR per season.
Dhawan, after playing for a couple of franchises over the years, is now back at Delhi Capitals again and will get a salary of 5.2 crore INR in IPL 2020. But, till 2017, Dhawan was getting a salary of 12.5 crore INR at his previous franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad. That was Dhawan’s highest ever IPL salary.
