A star cricketer was paid Rs 3 lakh per run scored in the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy 2025 and it’s not Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma.
The ICC Champions Trophy 2025 is replete with plenty of star power were some of the best cricketers in the world on show. We have ‘Fab Four’ – Virat Kohli, Kane Williamson, Steve Smith and Joe Root – in action in the ICC event which is hosted by Pakistan.
However, surprisingly they are not the most expensive players on show in the Champions Trophy. The player actually hails from hosts Pakistan, who have ironically crashed out of the tournament without a single win under their belt after their final league stage match against Bangladesh at Rawalpindi was washed out without a ball being bowled.
According to media reports, the most expensive player (judged by salary and the amount of runs scored or wickets taken by the cricketer) turns out to be Pakistan opener Imam-ul-Haq. The Pakistani southpaw was drafted into the squad to replace injured opener Fakhar Zaman ahead of Pakistan’s second match against India at the Dubai International Stadium last Sunday.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) ended up paying Imam 3 million PKR or Rs 30,00,000 for scoring 10 runs against the Indians in a six-wicket loss. With Pakistan’s final game getting washed out, Imam will take hope a cool Rs 3 lakh PKR per run scored from the tournament.
In comparison, Indian captain Rohit Sharma has got around Rs 19,672 per run scored in the Champions Trophy so far. Rohit will be played Rs 12 lakh (Rs 6 lakh per match) for 2 games and has so far scored 61 runs in the tournament. There is speculation that Indian skipper may chose to miss their final league match against New Zealand in Dubai on Sunday (March 2) to recover from a hamstring strain.
Both New Zealand and India have qualified for the Champions Trophy 2025 semifinal after winning their first two matches against Bangladesh and Pakistan. Former India skipper Virat Kohli will be paid around Rs 9,806 per run scored – having notched up 122 runs in 2 matches for a salary of Rs 12 lakh.
Pakistan star Babar Azam is one of the highest paid cricketers from his country with a salary of Rs 4.5 million PKR reportedly. Babar will get around Rs 1 lakh PKR for every run scored in the Champions Trophy.
The former Pakistan skipper has scored 87 runs in his two matches while being paid Rs 9 million PKR by the PCB.
