You always wonder if the players' salaries in the IPL is more or less than the one advertised. Well, as far as Virat Kohli is concerned, it is more, with the India Test skipper earning the highest in terms of wages in the Indian Premier League.
Kohli's salary amount deducted for cap purposes is Rs 12.5 crore, but the right-hander, who also captains his IPL side the Royal Challengers Bangalore, earns Rs 15 crore, which is considerably higher than India's ODI and T20 captain MS Dhoni.
The not-the-CSK-star-for-the-next-two-years earns the same amount as his purse deduction amount – Rs 12.5 crore (1 crore is 10 million) – according to a list of retained players released by the BCCI, as the board continues to espouse its promises of being more transparent.
Kohli and Dhoni, who will play the next two seasons of the IPL with the newly-formed Team Pune, are the highest earners along with Shikhar Dhawan of the Sunrisers Hyderabad, with the left-hander also earning Rs 12.5 crore.
Then comes Rohit Sharma of the Mumbai Indians will Rs 11.5 crore, followed by the KKR captain Gautam Gambhir, who has led his team to a couple of IPL titles, with Rs 10 crore.
Below is the entire list of the player salaries of retained players for IPL 2016.
David Miller (KXIP): Purse deduction: Rs 12.5 crore. Actual salary: Rs 5 crore.
Manan Vora (KXIP): Purse deduction: Rs 4 crore. Actual salary: Rs 3.5 crore.
Gautam Gambhir (KKR): Purse deduction: Rs 12.5 crore. Actual salary: Rs 10 crore.
Sunil Narine (KKR): Purse deduction: Rs 9.5 crore. Actual salary: Rs 8 crore.
Rohit Sharma (MI): Purse deduction: Rs 12.5 crore. Actual salary: Rs 11.5 crore.
Kieron Pollard (MI): Purse deduction: Rs 9.5 crore. Actual salary: Rs 9.7 crore.
Lasith Malinga (MI): Purse deduction: Rs 7.5 crore. Actual salary: Rs 8.1 crore.
Harbhajan Singh (MI): Purse deduction: Rs 5.5 crore. Actual salary: Rs 8 crore.
Ambati Rayudu (MI): Purse deduction: Rs 4 crore. Actual salary: Rs 6 crore.
Virat Kohli (RCB): Purse deduction: Rs 12.5 crore. Actual salary: Rs 15 crore.
AB De Villiers: Purse deduction: Rs 9.5 crore. Actual salary: Rs 9.5 crore.
Chris Gayle (RCB): Purse deduction: Rs 7.5 crore. Actual salary: Rs 8.4 crore.
Shikhar Dhawan (SRH): Purse deduction: Rs 12.5 crore. Actual salary: Rs 12.5 crore.
M S Dhoni (Pune): Purse deduction: Rs 12.5 crore. Actual salary: Rs 12.5 crore.
Ajinkya Rahane (Pune): Purse deduction: Rs 9.5 crore. Actual salary: Rs 8 crore.
R Ashwin (Pune): Purse deduction: Rs 7.5 crore. Actual salary: Rs 7.5 crore.
Steven Smith (Pune): Purse deduction: Rs 5.5 crore. Actual salary: Rs 4 crore
Faf du Plessis (Pune): Purse deduction: Rs 4 crore. Actual salary: Rs 4.75 crore
Suresh Raina (Rajkot): Purse deduction: Rs 12.5 crore. Actual salary: Rs 9.5 crore.
Ravindra Jadeja (Rajkot): Purse deduction: Rs 9.5 crore. Actual salary: Rs 5.5 crore.
Brendon McCullum (Rajkot): Purse deduction: Rs 7.5 crore. Actual salary: Rs 3.25 crore.
James Faulkner (Rajkot): Purse deduction: Rs 5.5 crore. Actual salary: Rs 5.1 crore.
Dwayne Bravo (Rajkot): Purse deduction: Rs 4 crore. Actual salary: Rs 4 crore.
