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The finalization of the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) mega auction has reshaped the cricket landscape in India. Rishabh Pant made history by being acquired for INR 27 crore by the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), on the other hand Shreyas Iyer and Venkatesh Iyer fetched INR 26.75 crore and INR 23.75 crore, respectively.
In the matter of retention, Virat Kohli was the top pick, with the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) opting to retain him for INR 21 crore. With the final salaries of IPL players now confirmed, Rishabh Pant is actually India's highest-earning cricketer from cricketing sources. Pant now earns INR 32 crore annually from his cricket commitments, by surpassing Virat Kohli, whose earnings stand at INR 28 crore per annum.
Now Pant and Kohli have 2 primary income sources – their BCCI and IPL contracts. Pant is in the A category under the BCCI central contracts, earning INR 5 crore annually, while his IPL salary is INR 27 crore, that brings his total earnings to INR 32 crore.
Virat Kohli, on the other hand, is in the A+ category of BCCI contracts and earns INR 7 crore from that, with an IPL salary of INR 21 crore from RCB, which makes the total of INR 28 crore annually.
Pant's earnings could increase further with the upcoming BCCI central contract announcements in March next year. He is most likely to be promoted to the A+ category, given his importance to Team India across all formats, which would further increase his salary cross over Kohli.
Kohli, who is no longer a part of India's T20 squad, may see a reduction in his earnings if he is moved to the A category, that resulted in a pay cut.
As for Shreyas Iyer and Venkatesh Iyer, who are the next highest earners from the auction, neither of them is part of the BCCI central contracts for now. Anyways, Shreyas Iyer still has the possibility of being included in the central contract list if he makes a return to the Indian team.