Chennai Super Kings lifted the Indian Premier League trophy in October in Dubai. And less than six months later, the IPL juggernaut is back.
The venue – India – and the schedule – March 26 to May 29 – mark a return to normality after successive seasons of uncertainty and change of venues due to the pandemic. This time, the IPL matches are restricted to a handful of venues in western India – the Wankhede Stadium, DY Patil Stadium and the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai and the MCA Stadium in Pune.
With a little over a week left before the first match of IPL 2022, the focus is back on cricket. And when it comes to the IPL, money is a big talking point.
A mega player auction was held last month with top players from almost the entire cricketing world represented. Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Ishan Kishan was the biggest winner during the auction, snapped up by Mumbai Indians for 152.5 million rupees ($2.03m).
A number of Indian players had already been retained by their franchises before the auction started. Star names such as Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja secured contracts of over $2m each.
Several other Indian players were the subjects of intense bidding. Quality fast bowlers and hard-hitting lower-order batsmen were in high demand.
So who are the highest paid Indian cricketers at IPL 2022? See the entire list below.
