The pay difference between Indian and Pakistani cricketers is massive, and the latest central contracts show how big the gap has become. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) follow similar formats when it comes to grading players. But when you compare the actual money being paid, Indian players earn way more than their Pakistani counterparts.
The BCCI recently released its Central Contract list for 2025, while the PCB announced its current contract list last year. Even though both boards have a similar system of dividing players into multiple categories, the amount received by Indian players is far ahead, and the difference is now being widely discussed among cricket fans.
How Much Money Do Indian Cricketers Get from BCCI?
The BCCI has divided 34 players into four grades in the 2025 central contract list:
- Grade A+ – ₹7 crore per year
- Grade A – ₹5 crore per year
- Grade B – ₹3 crore per year
- Grade C – ₹1 crore per year
This means that a top player in the A+ grade like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, or Jasprit Bumrah earns around ₹58.3 lakh every month from the central contract alone. Even players in Grade B take home ₹25 lakh per month, which is more than what PCB pays its top players.
Here is the full list of Indian players and their grades:
Grade A+ (₹7 crore/year)
- Rohit Sharma
- Virat Kohli
- Jasprit Bumrah
- Ravindra Jadeja
Grade A (₹5 crore/year)
- Mohammad Siraj
- KL Rahul
- Shubman Gill
- Hardik Pandya
- Mohammed Shami
- Rishabh Pant
Grade B (₹3 crore/year)
- Suryakumar Yadav
- Kuldeep Yadav
- Akshar Patel
- Yashasvi Jaiswal
- Shreyas Iyer
Grade C (₹1 crore/year)
- Rinku Singh
- Tilak Varma
- Ruturaj Gaikwad
- Shivam Dube
- Ravi Bishnoi
- Washington Sundar
- Mukesh Kumar
- Sanju Samson
- Arshdeep Singh
- Prasidh Krishna
- Rajat Patidar
- Dhruv Jurel
- Sarfaraz Khan
- Nitish Kumar Reddy
- Ishan Kishan
- Abhishek Sharma
- Akash Deep
- Varun Chakravarthy
- Harshit Rana
What Do Pakistani Cricketers Earn Under PCB’s Central Contract?
On the other side, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has divided 25 players into four categories. While the structure looks similar, the pay is much lower when converted to Indian currency.
Here’s a breakdown of what Pakistani players earn based on their grade:
- Grade A: PKR 4.5 million/month ≈ ₹13.69 lakh/month
- Grade B: PKR 3 million/month ≈ ₹9 lakh/month
- Grade C: PKR 1.5 million/month ≈ ₹4.5 lakh/month
- Grade D: PKR 0.75–1 million/month ≈ ₹2–3 lakh/month
Even the top earners in Pakistan get ₹1.65 crore annually, which is less than what Indian Grade B players get (₹3 crore/year).
Here is the list of players in PCB’s contract categories:
Grade A (₹1.65 crore/year)
- Babar Azam
- Mohammad Rizwan
Grade B (₹1.08 crore/year)
- Naseem Shah
- Shaheen Shah Afridi
- Shan Masood
Grade C (₹54–81 lakh/year)
- Abdullah Shafique
- Abrar Ahmed
- Haris Rauf
- Noman Ali
- Saim Ayub
- Sajid Khan
- Salman Ali Agha
- Saud Shakeel
- Shadab Khan
Grade D (₹24–36 lakh/year)
- 11 players (names not specified)
Indian Cricketers Earn Up to 4 Times More Than Pakistani Players
The comparison clearly shows that Indian players are far ahead in earnings. An A+ grade player in India makes about ₹7 crore per year, while Pakistan’s A grade players earn only ₹1.65 crore annually.
This means India’s top players earn over 4 times more than Pakistan’s top cricketers, and even some Grade C Indian players are earning more than Grade A players from Pakistan.
Why Is There Such a Huge Difference?
There are several reasons behind this big gap in earnings:
- BCCI is the richest cricket board in the world, with huge earnings from sponsorship, media rights, and the IPL.
- India has a much bigger cricket market, with millions of viewers and global brand value.
- BCCI earns big from international matches, ads, and digital platforms, giving them more power to pay high salaries.
- On the other hand, PCB depends mostly on ICC funding and home series, and their commercial income is much lower.
This financial gap also reflects in player lifestyle, training facilities, and exposure.
