According to an excellent article in today’s Times of India:
In less than 15 years time, the match fees of an Indian first-class cricketer have increased by about 800 times. The fees for turning out in a Ranji Trophy encounter used to be about Rs. 450 a day in the 90s and now stands at Rs. 35,000 a day.
Other fun facts: the BCCI shares 26 percent of its profits with players (13 for international; 10.5 for senior domestic players, and 2.5 for juniors). International match fees have increased from 2.5 lakhs for Tests to 7 lakh rupees now.
(These are just match fees; most players also get tons of endorsements. As the article says: “Every Team India player is a millionaire…”)
And while the BCCI has made stadium construction a priority, handing out Rs. 50 crore (500 million) to state associations, Aakash Chopra had this good advice to share:
“Building stadiums is all right, but the next generation needs good grounds to hone their skills. That is the best way to nurture talent at the grassroots.”
Tell you what, the average Ranji cricketer himself is making pretty solid money these days. Think about it, 35,000 a day for four days (almost all ranji games last 4 days) is 1 lakh 40 per game. 7 games per year (more if you reach the knockouts) and thats about 10 lakhs. Most of them have IPL contracts where the minimum contract is something like $50,000 a year. That’s another 25 lakhs. Add to that some domestic ODI and T20 games, and you’re looking at 40 to 50 lakhs per year for an average domestic cricketer. Not to mention the more skilled ones get paid several x more in the IPL. 50 lakhs is a good living in India. Very happy for the cricketers.