Here are the top richest cricketers in the world.
Sachin Tendulkar
Legendary India batsman Sachin Tendulkar may have retired but he is still the richest cricketer in the world, ahead of Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni. With a net worth of well over Rs 1000 crore, the ‘God of Cricket’ continues to earn handsome money through various brand endorsements and sponsorship deals.
Checkout Sachin’s autobiography “Playing It My Way”.
M. S. Dhoni
Former India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, one of the most popular cricketers in the world, has a net worth of close to Rs 800 crore.
Virat Kohli
India skipper Virat Kohli has a net worth of close to Rs 700 crore, and is the only cricketer to feature in the Forbes’ highest-paid athletes in the world.
Ricky Ponting
Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting has a net worth of Rs 500 crore.
Ricky Pointing lives in a luxurious mansion named ‘Shanford Mansion’ located in the upscale Golden Mile of Brighton in Melbourne. His house has a swimming pool, private theatre, billiard room, and full-sized tennis court.
Checkout Ricky Ponting’s autobiography “Ponting: At the Close of Play”.
Brian Lara
Considered as one of the greatest batsmen of all time, former West Indies batsman Brian Lara has a net worth of between 400 to 500 crore.
Lara owns a luxurious home in Trinidad, in a posh neighborhood in Port of Spain. The two-story bungalow has a garden and a swimming pool. True to his nickname “The Prince of Trinidad”, Lara undoubtedly lives a lavish life.
Do checkout Brian Lara’s autobiography titled “Beating the Field: My Own Story”.
Virat Kohli’s earning is 100 times more than Pakistan’s highest earning cricketers
There’s no doubt that Virat Kohli is among the greatest batsmen of all time. But when it comes to getting paid, it really helps to be in India (the mecca of cricket).
Did you know that Virat Kohli’s earning is almost 100 times more than the highest earning cricketers of Pakistan.
For instance, the highest earning cricketer of Pakistan in 2015-16 was Mohammad Hafeez, who earned approximately Rs 2.5 crore (39 million Pakistani rupees). On the other hand, Virat Kohli’s annual earnings for the same period was Rs 308 crore.
A substantial amount of Virat Kohli earnings were from endorsements (in addition to the match fees).
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Hardik Pandya: Rags to Riches Story
Indian cricket all-rounder Hardik Pandya faced financial woes (before becoming an Indian cricket team star) and survived on Maggi during his cricket playing days.
“During U-19 days, my diet would be Maggi, both in the morning and evening. I was a big fan of Maggi and the situation was also like that. It was difficult to maintain a diet, financially it was a problem. Now I can eat whatever I want, but that time there were many problems in the family, especially financial issues,” said Hardik Pandya on ‘What the Duck’ show.
Read: Nestle Maggi Noodles.
Borrowing cricket kit
“We had bought a car but there were no savings. Wherever Krunal (brother) and I would go to play matches, we would go in the car. We had to take cricket kit from Baroda Cricket Association (BCA) for one year. I was 17 and Krunal was, I guess, around 19. A lot of people questioned, ‘they are coming in a car but cannot afford a cricket kit?’,” he said.
“We used to get Rs 40,000 per year (he meant per month) but they would cut Rs 4,000 TDS. Whatever we would earn would go in EMIs. We had a monthly EMI of Rs 10,000 for the car alone. We used to go to different villages to play. Krunal used to get more money — he would get Rs 500 for a match and I made Rs 400. But we would always travel in the car… nothing is bigger in life than self-respect (laughs). We would go to a petrol pump and buy two litres of petrol in bottles. We would stop a little ahead of the petrol pump. The second bottle would serve as back-up, so that we can at least get back home. We cannot empty both the bottles in one go, as we would never know how long it would last. This is my story till six months before I played IPL,” says Hardik.
Source: hindustantimes
Dombivli to Lords, Ajinkya Rahane’s Amazing Journey
Ajinkya Rahane may not be a regular in the Indian cricket team when it comes to the shorter format of the game, but he’s definitely a pillar of the Indian test team. A batsman with sound technique, he’s also an important player of Mumbai Indians (IPL team).
Ajinkya Rahane spent most of his childhood in Dombivali (suburbs of Mumbai…on the central line). As a skinny kid, Ajinkya would get up at 5am everyday and go to CST from Dombivli for his cricket practice at Azad Maidan.
“I would walk from Cross Maidan to Elf or to Azad Maidan, play a game and return.” says Ajinkya.
Ajinkya would spend 4 to 5 hours everyday in travel. The experience made him more patient, and it also motivated him to do something special in life.
Are All Test Cricketers Millionaires?
Almost every Indian, or for that matter, even Pakistanis & Sri Lankan believe that all their cricketers, be it Test or the shorter format of the game, are millionaires.
But do you think that’s true of cricketers in other countries as well?
New Zealand’s wicketkeeper batsman Matthew Sinclair applied for unemployment benefits to support his family, after retiring from cricket in July this year.
The 37-year-old was a decent wicket-keeper batsman and has played 33 Tests for New Zealand. Sinclair had a promising start to his career with a double hundred on debut against West Indies in Wellington in 1999. He followed it up with another double in the same season against Pakistan. However, he was unable to cement his side in the New Zealand team.
But then, is this not something difficult to digest, especially if you’re based in India?
I’m sure, even those cricketers who play for the various IPL teams in India, and have not represented the country yet, are better financially.
However, New Zealand is different and cricket is definitely not a ‘religion’ there. Besides, you only get to play six months of cricket there due to the weather, which is not really great.
But then why is he not trying to get contracts overseas, especially the IPL?
The primary reason is because he feels at this age, he also need to focus on his family, and cannot afford to stay away from his kids for months. The stylish right-handed batsman now is looking for stability in life. His fellow New Zealander, Ross Taylor, has a million dollar deal with Pune Warriors, but unfortunately Sinclair was unable to go.
“I am not 17 or 18 to live life on my terms. Today, I have my wife and kids to support. Also, I am getting older. Had I been younger and single it wouldn’t have mattered, but it matters now. Hence, I took this decision and applied for unemployment benefits before I get a job” said the Australian-born cricketer.
He hasn’t however left the game completely, and is open to coaching assignments and/or as a batting consultant somewhere. Sinclair now lives with wife Tina and two kids, four-year old son Liam and three-year old daughter Holly.
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