Former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the most successful captains in the history of Indian cricket. Not only winning the 2011 World Cup, Dhoni is also responsible for leading India to win many major ICC events.
Speaking of cash-rich tournament – Indian Premier League, Dhoni leads the Chennai based team, Chennai Super Kings (CSK). In his IPL career, except last season (IPL 2020) CSK has always made it to the play-offs becoming the second most successful team after Mumbai Indians.
And, now the legendary wicketkeeper-batsman is all set to become the first-ever cricketer to earn more than INR 150 crore as a salary in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
The 39-year-old skipper has been with CSK ever since the inception of IPL in 2008, except the two seasons while the Chennai-based franchise was serving a two-season ban in the aftermath of the infamous 2013 spot-fixing scandal.
Dhoni was the biggest player to be bought in the IPL 2008 auction. He was the costliest pick when CSK bought him for Rs 6 crore. He earned the same amount for the next 3 years.
In 2011, the BCCI increased the first-choice retention price to over Rs 8 crore. And, Dhoni was paid a salary of Rs 8.28 crore from 2011 to 2013.
Ahead of the IPL 2014 mega-auction, the BCCI once again increased the first-choice retention amount. Hence, he earned Rs 12.5 crore in 2014 and 2015. At Rising Pune Supergiant as well, Dhoni had the same salary and drew Rs 25 crore in 2016 and 2017.
The three-time IPL-winning captain has earned Rs 60 crore at CSK since their return to the league in 2018. The only player with a combined salary of over Rs 150 crore. However, Dhoni isn’t expected to add to his tally as he looks to retire after IPL 2021.
Moving on from MS Dhoni, Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma is second on the list. The most successful captain in the IPL history has so far earned INR 146.6 crore from Deccan Chargers and Mumbai Indians. He’s followed by Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli who has earned INR 143.2 crore.