IPL: Top 10 All-rounders With Highest Combined Earnings So Far

We’re talking about something interesting today. By saying this, high-quality all-rounders are rare; pace-bowling ones even rarer. Hence, the IPL franchises over the years shelled out big bucks for players offering both batting and bowling skills.

Teams can find the spin-bowling all-rounders in India, however, the seam-bowling ones, forget the elite-quality, even half-decent ones are difficult to hunt down, despite the abundant talent in the country.

Therefore, the franchises turn towards the overseas stars – Chris Morris became the most expensive player in the IPL auction ever this year. Nonetheless, in this list, which is dominated by overseas all-rounder, there are few Indians as well.

IPL: Top 10 all-rounders with highest combined earnings so far (all amounts in INR)

10. Hardik Pandya – 44,30,00,000

Mumbai Indians found Hardik Pandya and also helped the national side with someone who would provide the balance, especially in overseas conditions. Pandya made his IPL debut in 2015; in less than a year, he made his India debut as well highlighting how India has struggled with a lack of proper seam bowling all-rounders over decades.

He was paid 10 lakhs each in his first three seasons with MI; the amount sky-rocketed to 11 cr per season since 2018 as he became an indispensable part of both MI and the India eleven.  He has won 4 out of 5 titles with Mumbai, scoring 1401 runs at a strike rate of 157.24 and picked up 42 wickets.

9. Dwayne Bravo – 46,62,43,500

Dwayne Bravo is one of the few players left who were associated with the IPL since its inception in 2008. He started his journey with Mumbai Indians for the first three seasons, then was roped in by the Chennai Super Kings and had been there since – barring a couple of seasons with Gujarat Lions when CSK was banned.

He is the fourth-highest wicket-taker in the history of the tournament with 156 scalps to his name and is regarded as one of the best death bowlers in the world. The West Indian won a couple of titles under MS Dhoni in 2011 and 2018. Currently, he is signed at 6.4 cr per season since 2018.

8. Yusuf Pathan – 51,48,00,000

One of the legends of the IPL, Yusuf Pathan has won 3 IPL titles – 1 with Rajasthan Royals and 2 with Kolkata Knight Riders. Pathan, a powerful hitter of the ball, has scored 3204 runs at a strike rate of 142.97 and has picked 42 wickets with his part-time off-spin.

The right-hander was part of India’s 2011 World Cup-winning squad, and at his peak, he helped KKR to a couple of titles, when he was bought for 9.6 cr. He last played in the IPL in 2019, representing Sunrisers Hyderabad.

7. Chris Morris – 59,17,93,750

Chris Morris hasn’t been a regular feature in the South African side, but he always remained a hot commodity in the IPL – courtesy of his pace-bowling plus finishing attributes – albeit not the finest in the world. After a couple of auditioning seasons in 2013 and 2015, he was signed up for 7 cr by Delhi from 2016 to 2019.

The Royal Challengers Bangalore roped him in for 10 cr in 2020; that price only catapulted to a whopping 16.25 cr in 2021, paid by the Rajasthan Royals, making the Protea all-rounder the most expensive pick at any IPL auction. While his 599 runs in 77 games are uninspiring, he has been impressive with the ball and has a total of 94 wickets in his bag.

6. Glenn Maxwell – 63,42,75,400

Glenn Maxwell has always lured the franchises to spend big at the auction table. Despite his disappointing show in most of the seasons, his price chart has only kept on increasing: 10 lakh in 2012; 5.3 cr in 2013; 6 cr in 2014; 9 cr in 2019; 10.75 cr in 2020; recently RCB splurged out 14.25 cr in 2021 for the Australian.

Barring the 2014 season with Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) and the now-suspended 2020 season, the all-rounder has under-performed. Overall he has scored 1728 runs at a strike rate of 153.33.

5. Ben Stokes – 64,50,00,000

Despite playing only 5 seasons, having made his IPL debut in 2017, Ben Stokes is the fifth-highest earning all-rounder from the richest T20 league in the world. He has played for two teams – the now-defunct Rising Pune Supergiant in 2017, and since then he has been at Rajasthan.

Regarded as arguably the best all-rounder of this generation, Stokes was bought for 14.5 cr by RPS, and he helped the side to the final. RR brought in his services for 12.5 cr per season from 2018, however, he couldn’t replicate his success and impact at RR which he had in his debut season at RPS.

4. R Ashwin – 72,49,00,000

Although R Ashwin has lost his place in white-ball formats from the Indian team, he remains relevant and wanted amongst the IPL franchises. Ashwin started his IPL career at CSK in 2008; he then became a crucial part of the franchise and also the Indian team.

He spent the 2016 and 2017 seasons at RPS and then was acquired by Punjab where he stayed for a couple of seasons before moving to Delhi. He has been paid over 7.5 cr per season since 2014. The off-spinner has taken 139 IPL wickets at a brilliant economy of 6.9, and sometimes has been useful with the bat, too.

3. Kieron Pollard – 74,53,03,500

Arguably the greatest T20 player, Kieron Pollard has been a constant in the Mumbai side since his breakthrough maiden season in 2010. Bought at 3.4 cr in 2010, his salary cap kept on increasing up to 9.5 cr in 2015.

While it dropped to 5.4 cr in 2018, his match-winning performances for MI didn’t – in fact, in the last three years, Pollard has unlocked a beast mode with the bat, and is also been handed the vice-captaincy of MI.

In t0tal he has scored 3191 runs at a strike rate of 150.87 and has also provided Rohit Sharma with another bowling option with his innocuous but effective medium pace. Pollard is the only player other than Rohit to have won all 5 titles with Mumbai.

2. Ravindra Jadeja – 77,01,00,000

Ravindra Jadeja was termed “rockstar” by his first IPL captain, Shane Warne at Rajasthan Royals in 2008 when they won the inaugural edition of the tournament. After stints at Rajasthan and Kochi, the all-rounder was roped in by Chennai Super Kings, and barring the 2 seasons with Gujarat, he has been a crucial cog for Dhoni at CSK.

The left-hander has scored 2290 runs and taken 120 wickets. He has been paid highly for his all-round services with contracts ranging up to 9.5 cr.

1. Shane Watson – 77,13,48,250

Arguably the greatest all-rounder to have played in the IPL, Shane Watson has been part of the IPL since 2008 and only hanged up his boots after last season. He won the 2008 title with RR, stayed there till 2015 – his final contract at RR was worth 12.5 cr – and was paid 9.5 cr by RCB for a couple of seasons.

After retiring from international cricket, it was CSK who came calling for the legendary all-rounder, and he helped them win their third title in 2018 with a magnificent century in the final. Watson was twice named as the Player of the Tournament – in 2008 and 2013. He accumulated 3874 runs in the IPL in addition to 92 wickets.

Also Read: 5 Players Who Are A Part Of The IPL 100-Crore Club