Earnings of Indian domestic cricketers
When an infant in India holds the bat and ball in his/her hands, all he/she wants is to play and keep playing.
However, as time progresses, desires change. Instead of knocking balls around in the backyard, the target shifts to scoring runs or taking wickets at the school level. Subsequently, many end up dreaming to play the sport at the highest level.
It has been seen that children in the subcontinent, particularly in India, prefer playing and watching cricket from a very young age, given the popularity of the sport in the country. Most of these kids fall in love with the game and ultimately aim to make a career in cricket. Owing to the uncertainty and tough competition in the sport, parents largely hesitate in giving their kids a free hand, although things are gradually changing now.
Even if a cricketer fails to make it to the international level, he is able to secure his future to some extent, thanks to the standard remuneration at the domestic level.
Now, if you are thinking it's only the players who play in Indian Premier League (IPL) earn millions, then you are certainly wrong. Even Indian domestic cricketers earn quite a lot, and the numbers will surprise you.
No doubt earlier players did not earn more than INR 50000 INR ($ 657.05) per match even in the Ranji Trophy. However, with a 200% hike announced sometime back, the domestic cricketers in the country now have healthy earnings by playing different tournaments.
The three major domestic tournaments in India include the 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy, Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy and the multi-day Ranji Trophy. Let us have a look at the player earnings that are different for all the three tournaments.
Player Earnings in Vijay Hazare Trophy
Let's begin with the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
It's a 50-over tournament, where teams first play league games before going into the knockout stage. Each player in the playing XI is paid INR 35000 ($ 460) while those on the bench earn half of this amount, that is INR 17250 ($ 230).
Players from most of the state teams also get a sum of INR 1000 INR ($ 13) as Daily Allowance (DA) in league matches and INR 1500 ($ 19.71) for knockout games.
Each team plays about eight or nine matches in the league stage of this tournament. Players who appear in the playing XI of all these matches earn INR 315000 ($ 4139) each.
These matches are played in a period of about fifteen days, which adds another INR 15000 ($ 197) of DA to the players' earnings.
Player Earnings in Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy
There are six or seven league stage matches in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament, followed by four super-stage games for teams that top their respective groups.
Players are paid INR 17,500 ($ 230) per match. Those who aren't a part of the playing XI receive half of this amount, that is INR 8750 ($ 115) per match. The daily allowance of players, playing or on the bench, is INR 1000 ($ 13.14).
For the league games, a player from each team earns a minimum of INR 105,000 ($ 1379.81) plus approximately INR 10000 ($ 131.41) of daily allowance.
Those from teams that make it to the Super Stage end up earning at least INR 175000 ($ 2299.68), plus approximately INR 16000 (210.26$) of DA.
Player Earnings in Ranji Trophy
Ranji Trophy is the crown jewel of Indian domestic cricket and one of the best domestic tournaments all-around the world. Players earn the maximum amount of money by playing this tournament.
The Ranji Trophy is held over a period of about two months, thereby testing players’ skills to the maximum. Teams play either 8 or 9 league matches in this four-day tourney, with each match followed by a four-day gap.
Players earn INR 35000 ($ 460) per match day, which makes it INR 140000 ($ 1839.75) per game. Additionally players get INR 1000 ($ 10.5) daily allowance.
A player who plays all nine matches earns around INR 1332000 ($ 17503.87) plus a DA of approximately INR 72000 in a Ranji season even if their team is eliminated in the league stage.
Those who don't get a chance to appear in the playing XI earn half of this amount but the dearness allowance remaining the same.
Apart from their match earnings, players also get benevolent funds, which are INR 60000 ($ 788) per match in the Ranji Trophy, INR 20000 ($ 262.82) a game in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and INR 7000 ($ 92) per match in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy.
However, some of the state teams haven't been receiving these amounts since 2016.
Meanwhile, one must not forget that there is a cut of 12% tax in all the amount players receive every season. Note: Conversion rate of 1 INR = $ 0.013 has been considered.