Babar Azam’s annual salary 12 times less than Virat Kohli, half of what Sanju Samson and Arshdeep Singh make

Alongside Kohli, captain Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja and Jasprit Bumrah are other members of the top-tier category in the 2023 BCCI central contracts.

Babar Azam and Virat Kohli walk out for toss at the 2021 T20 World Cup. (SOURCE: FILE)

Listen to this article

00:00

1x 1.5x 1.8x

With the Board of Control for Cricket in India announcing the new set of central contracts for its men cricketers for the year 2023, former India captain Virat Kohli has retained his spot in the topmost A+ category of players earning Rs. 7 crore per year.

An annual salary which is 12 times more than Babar Azam makes under the recent 2022/23 Pakistan Cricket Board central contract. The Pakistan captain is bracketed under the red and white-ball contracts category of players, who earn 1.25 million PKR (Pakistan Rupee) per month. Amounting to 43,50,000 INR per year. Which is almost 12 times less to what Kohli makes under the new contract.

The top tier salary in PCB contracts is less than half of what the C category BCCI central contracted players such Sanju Samson and Arshdeep Singh earn per annum. Other than Babar, the top tier category in PCB central contracts includes Mohammad Rizwan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Imam-ul-Haq and Hasan Ali.

NEWS 🚨- BCCI announces annual player retainership 2022-23 – Team India (Senior Men).

More details here – https://t.co/kjK4KxoDdK #TeamIndia

— BCCI (@BCCI) March 26, 2023

BCCI announced the updated contract categories on Sunday with the notable changes being an under fire batter KL Rahul being demoted to Grade B while all rounder Ravindra Jadeja’s promotion to A+ category.

Story continues below this ad

Alongside Jadeja and Kohli, captain Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah are other members of the top-tier category.

Hardik Pandya, R Ashwin, Mohammad Shami, Rishabh Pant and Axar Patel are just below them in the Grade A category and will pocket around Rs 5 crore.

The elite A plus category has players who are a sure shot candidate for all three formats, while ‘A’ comprises cricketers who are certainties for Tests and one-dayers. Players who are considered for limited-over cricket are in Group B, while C group players are generally considered for one of the three formats regularly.

Stay updated with the latest sports news across Cricket, Football, Chess, and more. Catch all the action with real-time live cricket score updates and in-depth coverage of ongoing matches.