Virat Kohli's salary nearly equals 'entire' 19-man Pakistan cricket team's yearly earnings

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) recently announced the men’s central contracts list for 2020-21. Fast-bowler Shaheen Afridi and Test captain Azhar Ali were promoted from category B to A, joining Babar Azam in the top category. The likes of Iftikhar Ahmad and Naseem Shah were the two new faces in the 18-player list for the season.

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Virat Kohli's annual salary is almost similar to entire Pakistan's team's combined salaries

However, some notable emissions included Mohammad Amir, Wahab Riaz and Hasan Ali. Former captain Sarfaraz Ahmed and Yasir Shah have been demoted from category A to B. As soon as the PCB announced the contract list and the retainers fee, fans on Twitter started comparing the fees of the India and Pakistan players. Let's take a look at just how big a difference there is between the retainers fees of the two cricket boards.

The PCB Central contract has been divided into three categories, A, B and C. Here are how the salary divide has been made by the PCB on the basis of these categories:

A Category: 1.32 crore PKR (USD 81,576) per year

B Category: 90 lakh PKR (USD 55,627) per year

C Category: 66 lakh PKR (USD 40,793) per year

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As for the BCCI central contracts, there are four grades, A+, A, B and C. Here's how the BCCI has divided its players into these categories and their respective salaries:

Grade A+: INR 7 crore (USD 927,336) per year

Grade A: INR 5 crore (USD 662,383) per year

Grade B: INR 3 crore (USD 397,430) per year

Grade C: INR 1 crore (USD 132,476) per year

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When a comparison is done between the top grades in both contracts (A+ in BCCI and A in PCB), the massive dichotomy in the salaries of the two boards is visible. While Pakistan's top three are earning nearly USD 280,000 combined in the Grade A contract as per the current rate, a single player in the BCCI paygrade (B) earns nearly USD 400,000 annually.

Overall, the PCB will be approximately spending about PKR 157 million annually on centrally contracted players in category A, B and C, which roughly translates to about USD 990,000. This amount is only around $63,000 more than what only India captain Virat Kohli earns annually through his BCCI contract, 

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IMAGE COURTESY: PTI/ICC TWITTER