Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri BCCI’s highest-paid retainers not cricketers

Dhoni, in the last 12 months, has got Rs 2.59 crore for playing 35 int'l matches for India across formats.

India captain M S Dhoni might be fifth on the recent Forbes list of most valuable athlete brands, but he isn’t the one who gets the fattest BCCI pay cheque. Nor do any of his teammates. That honour belongs to former captains Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri, the highest-paid BCCI retainers.

With added bonus of about Rs 2 crore for their new roles — Shastri as Director Cricket and Gavaskar as head of IPL operations — the two will be getting around Rs 6 crore each annually. The two already had a Rs 4 crore per year contract as BCCI-endorsed commentators, which means they are on air for all of India’s international matches.

In contrast, Dhoni, in the last 12 months, has got Rs 2.59 crore for playing 35 international matches for India across all formats. That includes match fees as well as his Rs 1 crore retainer fee. Virat Kohli earned Rs 2.75 crore for playing 39 matches.

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Shastri will be Director Cricket for the next six months, till the end of the 2015 World Cup. It is learnt that Shastri accepted the offer after the board agreed to compensate him for “monetary loss” on account of lost media commitments.

Confirmed a BCCI official: “The board pays Shastri and Gavaskar Rs 4 crore annually as commentators. As per Supreme Court orders,
Gavaskar will be paid an extra Rs 2.37 crore. Roughly the same will be given to Shastri.”

Gavaskar has reportedly sent an invoice of Rs 2.37 crore for last IPL season.

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