Cricket tragic Will Cuckson breaks down the highest paid T20 players of 2023 — both in men’s and women’s cricket.
We’ve unpacked which global T20 leagues rival the Indian Premier League for pay… if any.
Now it’s time to dive into which players enjoyed the richest T20 contracts this year. And there are no surprises — almost all the money is in India.
Rich List: Highest paid T20 players (Men’s)
Sam Curran (Punjab Kings, IPL)
Curran’s 2023 IPL contract with the Punjab Kings is now the highest-paying contract in the league’s history.
After a five-team bidding spree, the English all-rounder was selected for a mind-boggling $3.33 million AUD (₹18.5 crore) in the auction, eclipsing the previous highest price for South African all-rounder Chris Morris, who was selected for ₹16.25 crore ahead of the 2021 season.
Cameron Green (Mumbai Indians, IPL)
All-rounders were certainly in fashion at the 2023 IPL auction, as Green was also bought for more than Morris’ record price, and more than the Australian record price of ₹15.5 crore, set by Pat Cummins in 2020.
Green’s life-changing IPL contract was worth a whopping $3.15 million (₹17.5 crore), the second most expensive buy of the 2023 auction, behind only Curran.
KL Rahul (Lucknow Super Giants, IPL)
Of the highest paid T20 players, here’s our first gloveman.
The Indian wicketkeeper-batter was drafted by the Super Giants ahead of their debut in the IPL in 2022, selected to be the franchise’s captain for a whopping ₹17 crore.
He was retained for the same price ahead of the 2023 season, with his contract worth $3.06 million AUD at the time of last season’s auction.
Ben Stokes (Chennai Super Kings, IPL)
The English test skipper continued the all-rounder trend in the 2023 IPL auction, with his selection by the Chennai Super Kings coming at the hefty price tag of ₹16.25 crore ($2.93 million AUD).
Nicholas Pooran (Lucknow Super Giants, IPL)
It seems that the next highest-valued cricketers are wicketkeeper-batters, as the West Indies’ Nicholas Pooran was bought for the fourth highest price at the auction, sold to the Lucknow Super Giants for ₹16 crore ($2.88 million AUD).
Ravindra Jadeja (Chennai Super Kings, IPL)
Andre Russell (Kolkata Knight Riders, IPL)
Rohit Sharma (Mumbai Indians, IPL)
Pooran is among esteemed company with a contract this valuable, as Indian stars Ravindra Jadeja and Rohit Sharma, as well as West Indian T20 stalwart Andre Russell, were retained by their respective franchises at the same price point.
Indian wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant was also retained by the Delhi Capitals for this price, but was ruled out of the 2023 IPL season due to injury.
Other Aussies?
While Cameron Green was the Aussie in the headlines at the 2023 IPL Auction, a number of his national teammates were retained by their franchises and had their lucrative deals from previous seasons renewed.
Royal Challengers Bangalore mainstay Glenn Maxwell headlined the retained Australians, kept by his franchise for the second year running ahead of the 2023 IPL season, with his deal worth approximately $2 million AUD.
Alongside Maxwell at RCB was Josh Hazlewood, also retained, and for a handsome $1.44 million AUD.
Marcus Stoinis was also retained by his franchise, the Lucknow Super Giants, with his deal worth roughly $1.67 million AUD, while Tim David, who made headlines with his $1.53 million AUD deal ahead of the 2022 season, was also retained, welcoming Green into the Aussie fray at the Mumbai Indians.
Another franchise with a strong Australian contingent – headlined by coach Ricky Ponting – was the Delhi Capitals, who retained new national T20 skipper Mitch Marsh ($1.2 million AUD) and the all-time IPL leading international run-scorer David Warner ($1.16 million AUD).
Highest paid T20 players (Women’s)
Smriti Mandhana (Royal Challengers Bangalore, WPL)
It’s only fitting that the biggest buy of the inaugural Women’s Premier League auction was star Indian batter Smriti Mandhana.
Mandhana fetched a price of $593,000 AUD, signed to the Royal Challengers Bangalore and subsequently being appointed as the franchise’s first captain.
Ash Gardner (Gujarat Giants, WPL)
Nat Sciver-Brunt (Mumbai Indians, WPL)
The T20 contract trends suggest that all-rounders are highly valued as a commodity, with the star all-rounder pair of Gardner and Sciver-Brunt snapped up as the equal second most expensive players at the WPL auction.
Both were not far behind Mandhana’s mega-deal, purchased by the Gujarat Giants and Mumbai Indians respectively for $558,000 AUD.
Deepti Sharma (UP Warriorz, WPL)
Continuing the all-rounder trend, Sharma’s WPL auction price was the next largest, drafted to the standalone UP Warriorz franchise.
She was purchased for a price tag of $454,000 AUD, playing at the Warriorz alongside Aussies Alyssa Healy, Grace Harris and Tahlia McGrath.
Jemimah Rodrigues (Delhi Capitals, WPL)
Rodrigues was one of two top buys for the Delhi Capitals at the WPL auction, alongside Indian teammate Shafali Verma. The young star batter was purchased by the franchise for $389,000 AUD.
Beth Mooney (Gujarat Giants, WPL)
Shafali Verma (Delhi Capitals, WPL)
Rounding out the top five most lucrative deals of the WPL auction, powerful batters Mooney and Verma were selected by the Gujarat Giants and Delhi Capitals respectively.
The pair were purchased at a price of $349,000 AUD, with Mooney becoming one of Australia’s highest paid T20 players at the inaugural WPL auction.
Other Aussies?
There were some big Aussie names also selected in the WPL auction, with the usual suspects Ellyse Perry, Tahlia McGrath and Meg Lanning rounding out the top five most expensive Aussie deals.
Perry was purchased by the Royal Challengers Bangalore for $297,000 AUD, while the Delhi Capitals won the bidding for her Victorian teammate in Lanning, who fetched a price of $192,000 AUD.
McGrath fetched the highest deal of the Aussie trio at the UP Warriorz, with the all-rounder’s deal worth $244,000 AUD. And Grace Harris and Alyssa Healy selected for $131,000 and $122,000 AUD respectively.
