Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been leading the Indian team, across all formats for quite some time now. In fact, the Jharkhand-lad is arguably the most successful Indian skipper of all time as well.
But, former Indian skippers, Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri earn more than Dhoni as the paid-retainers from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the autonomous body which runs cricket in the country.
With added bonus of about Rs. 2 crore for their new roles — Shastri as Director Cricket and Gavaskar as head of IPL operations — the two will be getting around Rs 6 crore each annually. The two already had a Rs. 4 crore per year contract as BCCI-endorsed commentators, which means they are on air for all of India’s international matches.
In contrast, Dhoni, in the last 12 months, has got Rs. 2.59 crore for playing 35 international matches for India across all formats. That includes match fees as well as his Rs. 1 crore retainer fee.
Interestingly, even after not being among the highest-paid retainers of the BCCI, Dhoni holds the fifth spot in the Forbes list of most valuable athlete brands.
