ABP Live Sports
abplive|17-07-2025
It’s widely known that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the richest cricket board in the world. With huge revenues from broadcasting rights, sponsors, and the Indian Premier League (IPL), BCCI offers substantial pay to its players.
However, what many may not know is that the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) pays its players even more in terms of annual salary packages.
Let’s take a look at how much both boards offer their contracted players.
As the world’s wealthiest cricket board, BCCI has a well-defined contract system.
The central contracts are divided into four grades: Grade A+, Grade A, Grade B, and Grade C.Grade A+ includes top players like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Jasprit Bumrah, who receive ₹7 crore per year.
Grade A players are paid ₹5 crore,
Grade B players get ₹3 crore, while Grade C players earn ₹1 crore annually.
In addition to these fixed salaries, Indian players also receive match fees and earn significantly through the IPL. Each IPL team has a purse of up to ₹120 crore, making it a major source of income for Indian cricketers.
Surprisingly, the England Cricket Board offers higher annual retainers to its players than the BCCI. Although exact figures are not officially disclosed, several reports suggest that ECB pays its centrally contracted players between ₹7.5 crore and ₹10 crore per year.
Besides the annual contracts, English players also receive generous match fees:
₹18.5 lakh for playing a Test match,
₹10 lakh for an ODI, and around ₹5 lakh for a T20 International.
As per media reports, Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler are currently the top earners under ECB contracts.
So, while BCCI leads in overall wealth and market dominance, the ECB appears to offer a more lucrative annual package to its top cricketers in terms of salary and match-day earnings.
So, while BCCI leads in overall wealth and market dominance, the ECB appears to offer a more lucrative annual package to its top cricketers in terms of salary and match-day earnings.