IPL: Highest paid players in the history of each franchise
When you talk about the IPL, you just cannot ignore the astronomical money involved in it. There have been many millionaires in the IPL over the years, with a very few justifying their price tags while the others did not.
Almost all the franchises have shelled out an enormous amount of money on the players, whom they wanted to buy or retain in their squad. As the league enters its second decade, let us look at the players who grabbed the eye-balls of the franchise owners.
Note: When a player is retained by a franchise, a certain amount is deducted from the franchise's purse which differs from the player's salary. Only the player's salary is considered for listing out the highest paid ones and not the money deducted from the franchise purse.
#1) Royal Challengers Bangalore- Virat Kohli (Rs.17 crore)
Virat Kohli is one of the very few players to have played for the same franchise for a decade. Kohli has been a part of the RCB squad since the inaugural season (2008) and has proved his class in every IPL season. RCB finished as the runners-up thrice- in 2009, 2011 and 2016.
The 2016 IPL was all about Virat Kohli, who smashed four centuries in that season alone. The skipper amassed a record 973 runs in the 2016 season and was in the form of his life-time. Unfortunately, the Royal Challengers lost to the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the finals at home.
In 149 IPL matches, Kohli has scored 4418 runs for the RCB at a strike-rate of 129.82 with his highest score being 113. The RCB management retained their star player ahead of the 2018 season for an IPL record of Rs.17 crore. Thereby, Kohli not only becomes Bangalore’s costliest player but also the highest paid player in the IPL history.