How much does Cheteshwar Pujara earn?
What's the story
Cheteshwar Pujara, unarguably the best Indian Test player of our times, unfortunately doesn't get enough credit for his talent in terms of fame or money as do the short-format specialists. As the leading run-scorer in 2017 for India in whites, Pujara only makes a fraction of some of his fellow team-mates who are a grade below him. Let's see how.
Grade A contract
Pujara's salary after revised central contracts
Earlier this year, BCCI announced new central contracts for the Indian national team for 32 players categorized under A, B and C grades. Accordingly, Pujara who falls under Grade A, alongside the likes of Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, and Ajinkya Rahane, gets an yearly retainer of Rs. 2 crore and a match appearance fee of Rs. 15 lakh per Test.
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Pujara's earnings with the current contract
Pujara played 10 Tests this year and no matches in other formats. While the new contract come into effect on 1st Oct, everything remaining the same, he would earn Rs. 3.5 crore salary (Rs. 2 crore retainer fee, Rs. 1.5 crore Test-match fee), next year.
Shikhar Dhawan
This is how much Shikhar Dhawan earns
Shikhar Dhawan, a Grade C player was involved in 4 Test matches, 19 ODIs, 6 T20Is, 14 IPL matches, so far this year. Everything remaining constant, Dhawan would stand to earn a total of Rs. 14.92 crore- Rs 50 lakh retainer fee, Rs 60 lakh for Test appearances, Rs 114 lakh for ODIs, Rs 18 lakh for T20Is and Rs 12.5 crore IPL contract.
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Comparison with Grade B player, Rohit Sharma
Rohit Sharma played 1 Test, 18 ODIs, 6 T20Is this year, making his earnings Rs 13.9 crore (Rs. 24 crore playing for India, and Rs. 11.5 crore IPL contract).
Salary revision talks
Ravi Shastri and Kohli push for protecting Test specialists
Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni and Ravi Shastri, representing players in their meeting with CoA, pushed for better remuneration package that protect Test specialists like Pujara who do not get lucrative IPL deals. With rumors doing rounds that players will be bracketed as per the number of internationals played, Shastri recently said that Pujara should be kept in the top bracket after revision.