When India and Pakistan face off on the cricket field, the tension is sky-high, and for a few hours, nothing else matters but the game. But off the pitch, there is another ‘scorecard’ where the two sides aren’t even in the same league: their bank accounts. Because of the massive success of the IPL and India’s huge cricket fan base, Indian cricketers are now some of the richest sportspersons on the planet, leaving their Pakistani rivals far behind in terms of wealth.
The Billion-Rupee empires of Indian cricketers
In India, top cricketers aren’t just athletes, they are walking business empires. According to Sportskeeda, Virat Kohli is in a league of his own. His net worth is now estimated at over Rs 1,060 crore. While he earns a massive salary of Rs 21 crore just for playing two months in the IPL for RCB, most of his money comes from his own brands like One8 and huge deals with Puma and MRF.
It’s a similar story for other Indian players. According to Sportskeeda, Rohit Sharma has built a fortune of roughly Rs 215 Crore, due to his long-standing captaincy at Mumbai Indians and deals with brands like Adidas. Even younger players who are just starting out are becoming incredibly wealthy. For instance, Shubman Gill is already worth about Rs 33 Crore. This is because the Indian market is so big that brands are willing to pay almost any price to have a cricketer’s face on their products.
The financial struggle in Pakistan
On the other side of the border, the situation is very different. According to Sportskeeda, Pakistan has some of the best players in the world, like Babar Azam and Shaheen Afridi, but they simply don’t have the same money-making opportunities. The Pakistan Super League (PSL) is a great tournament, but its highest-paid players only earn around Rs 1.6 crore per season. In the IPL, even a mid-level player can earn ten times that amount.
Currently, pace bowler Shaheen Afridi is one of Pakistan’s highest earners with a net worth of about Rs 58 Crore. Babar Azam, who is often compared to Kohli for his batting skills, has a net worth of around Rs 41 crore. While these are life-changing amounts of money, they look small compared to the Rs 1,000 crore empires being built across the border.
Why is there such a big gap?
The main reason isn’t talent, it’s the economy. According to Sportskeeda, the IPL is currently valued at over Rs 1 lakh crore, making it one of the richest sports leagues in the world, second only to the NFL in the US. This massive value comes from TV rights. Since India has over 1.4 billion people, companies like Disney and Reliance are willing to pay billions to broadcast the matches.
As sports analysts often point out, India has turned its cricketers into ‘tycoons.’ While a Pakistani player might be just as famous, they don’t have the same massive domestic market.