Rishabh Pant to earn more than Rs 27 crore in IPL 2025, MS Dhoni to also reap benefits, here’s how

Lucknow Super Giants new recruit Rishabh Pant will be the highest-paid cricketer in the history of the Indian Premier League next season.

Team India wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant shattered all records of previous Indian Premier League (IPL) auctions, when he was bought for a mind-boggling amount of Rs 27 crore by the Lucknow Super Giants earlier this week. The amount makes former Delhi Capitals captain the highest paid cricketer in IPL history.

However, new LSG recruit Pant is set to earn much more thanks to Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The Indian cricket board have introduced a new rule from the IPL 2025 season, where the cricketers will be entitled to an additional match fees of Rs 7.5 lakh per match.

Even the Impact Player will benefit from this rule. “A cricketer playing all league matches in a season will get Rs 1.05 crore in addition to his contracted amount. Each franchise will allocate Rs 12.60 crore as match fee for the season,” BCCI secretary Jay Shah posted on X.

In a historic move to celebrate consistency and champion outstanding performances in the #IPLwe are thrilled to introduce a match fee of INR 7.5 lakhs per game for our cricketers! A cricketer playing all league matches in a season will get Rs. 1.05 crores in addition to his…

— Jay Shah (@JayShah) September 28, 2024

The move has been introduced for the benefit of several players who do not draw handsome salaries, for a number of reasons, including auction dynamics. Rinku Singh, for example, had been playing IPL on a Rs 55 lakh salary, much less than the Rs 1 crore per year he gets from his BCCI contract.

“Any player – Indian or overseas – who features in the playing twelve, will get a match fee of Rs 7.5 lakh per match,” a BCCI official said.

Assuming that Pant plays in all 14 league stage matches, he will earn an additional amount of Rs 1.05 crore. If the LSG side make it to the final for the first time in their brief history, he can earn between Rs 1.20 crore and Rs 1.275 crore in addition to his Rs 27 crore salary.

Former Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain MS Dhoni will also reap the benefits of this new rule. Dhoni has been retained as an uncapped player for Rs 4 crore ahead of the IPL 2025 Mega Auction. Even if he plays only as an ‘Impact Player’ throughout the upcoming season for CSK, he will finally earn between Rs 5 to 6 crore.

How much will be Rishabh Pant’s in-hand salary?

However, Pant will ultimately get around Rs 19.6 crore in his in-hand salary. The Government of India will deduct a tax of around Rs 8.4 crore assuming that Pant will be drawing Rs 28 crore approximately from the IPL 2025 season.