From Rishabh Pant to Virat Kohli: what IPL 2026 pays its 10 best-paid Indians per match
Ten Indian cricketers will earn more from fourteen league matches than most people earn in a lifetime. These are the retention figures the franchises filed with the BCCI, and what each one works out to per match.
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Published 21 September 2026
01 Rishabh Pant
IPL 2026 salary · Lucknow Super Giants ₹27 crore ₹1.93 crore a league match
No cricketer has ever been paid more for a single IPL season. Lucknow bought him for ₹27 crore at the 2024 auction after Delhi let him go, and kept him there for 2026 — ₹1.93 crore per league match before a ball is bowled.
Source: IPL 2026 retention lists (BCCI), via Wikipedia · as of 21 September 2026
02 Shreyas Iyer
IPL 2026 salary · Punjab Kings ₹26.75 crore ₹1.91 crore a league match
Punjab paid ₹26.75 crore for a batter no franchise had retained the year before. He had captained Kolkata to the title months earlier and was released anyway, which makes his price the sharpest correction in the league's recent history.
Source: IPL 2026 retention lists (BCCI), via Wikipedia · as of 21 September 2026
03 Virat Kohli
IPL 2026 salary · Royal Challengers Bengaluru ₹21 crore ₹1.50 crore a league match
The only player never to have left his franchise. Royal Challengers have paid him top-bracket money since 2008, and at ₹21 crore he is on ₹1.50 crore a match — the longest-running arrangement in Indian sport.
Source: IPL 2026 retention lists (BCCI), via Wikipedia · as of 21 September 2026
04 Ruturaj Gaikwad
IPL 2026 salary · Chennai Super Kings ₹18 crore ₹1.29 crore a league match
Chennai's captain, and the first Super Kings batter since the club's early years to be built around rather than bought in. ₹18 crore for 2026, matching his franchise's other retained opener rupee for rupee.
Source: IPL 2026 retention lists (BCCI), via Wikipedia · as of 21 September 2026
05 Sanju Samson
IPL 2026 salary · Chennai Super Kings ₹18 crore ₹1.29 crore a league match
Kerala's most successful export left Rajasthan after a decade to join Chennai at ₹18 crore. He had been the only captain Rajasthan had kept for more than three seasons, which is what makes the move unusual rather than the fee.
Source: IPL 2026 retention lists (BCCI), via Wikipedia · as of 21 September 2026
06 Jasprit Bumrah
IPL 2026 salary · Mumbai Indians ₹18 crore ₹1.29 crore a league match
The highest-paid bowler in the competition. Mumbai have retained him through every cycle since 2013, and ₹18 crore for fourteen league games works out at ₹1.29 crore — an outlier in a format that pays batters.
Source: IPL 2026 retention lists (BCCI), via Wikipedia · as of 21 September 2026
07 Arshdeep Singh
IPL 2026 salary · Punjab Kings ₹18 crore ₹1.29 crore a league match
Punjab's left-arm seamer went from an uncapped buy at a fraction of this to ₹18 crore in six seasons. He is now the most expensive Indian pace bowler the franchise has ever held.
Source: IPL 2026 retention lists (BCCI), via Wikipedia · as of 21 September 2026
08 Yuzvendra Chahal
IPL 2026 salary · Punjab Kings ₹18 crore ₹1.29 crore a league match
The competition's leading wicket-taker, and at ₹18 crore the best-paid spinner in it. Punjab is his fourth franchise; no bowler in the IPL has been sold, released and re-bought at this level as often.
Source: IPL 2026 retention lists (BCCI), via Wikipedia · as of 21 September 2026
09 Yashasvi Jaiswal
IPL 2026 salary · Rajasthan Royals ₹18 crore ₹1.29 crore a league match
He was selling pani puri in Mumbai at twelve and sleeping in a groundsman's tent. Rajasthan retained him at ₹18 crore for 2026, which is ₹1.29 crore a match and roughly what the entire franchise's squad cost in the league's first season.
Source: IPL 2026 retention lists (BCCI), via Wikipedia · as of 21 September 2026
10 Axar Patel
IPL 2026 salary · Delhi Capitals ₹16.50 crore ₹1.18 crore a league match
Delhi's captain and the most-used all-rounder in the league's middle overs. ₹16.50 crore makes him the best-paid player at a franchise that has never won the competition.
Source: IPL 2026 retention lists (BCCI), via Wikipedia · as of 21 September 2026
What ₹1.93 crore a match would earn you
Put one match fee in a fixed deposit and it earns more in a year than most salaries. The calculator does the arithmetic.
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