Explained: How does the IPL salary structure work? Do players pocket the full bid?

The ten Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises spent Rs 230.45 crore at auction on Tuesday in Dubai. 72 players, including 30 from overseas, were sold during the event as teams prepared for IPL 2024 season. Mitchell Starc became the most expensive buy on the day, and in IPL history, with Kolkata Knight Riders shelling out Rs 24.75 crore for the Aussie seamer’s services. Harshal Patel, at Rs 11.75 crore, was the expensive Indian with Punjab Kings breaking bank for him. Meanwhile, Sameer Rizvi was the most expensive uncapped Indian player when Chennai Super Kings spent Rs 8.40 crore on him. The IPL mini-auction has seen a rise in spending as teams try to plug gaps before the season eventually gets underway. With the big money spent, we take a look at how the salary structure works in the IPL. Do players pocket the whole amount? Will Starc take home Rs 24.75 crore and Rizvi the Rs 8.40 crore that CSK spent on him? Yes. Except there are deductions depending on the structure. Since the league is one season away from the mega-auction, the players will sign a one-year (one season) contract with respective franchises. If it had been the mega-auction, players would have signed a three year deal with a franchises with clauses for retention and releases included. Additionally, there is also a payday involved for the respective cricket board for releasing players. For overseas players, 20% of the final bid is shared with their national board. That fee comes from the IPL central revenue pool. For instance, in case of Starc, since he’s gone for Rs 24.75 crore, Cricket Australia will get Rs 4.95 crore. Do players earn beyond the salary? Beyond the bids made during the auction, which is their salary, players also get daily compensation. The daily allowance varies depending on team-to-team and whether the tournament is in India or outside. For a home IPL, players could be get anywhere around Rs 5,000 per day to cover their food and incidental expenses. When do the players get the amount? This depends on the agreement between the player and the franchise. Some IPL teams pay the players upfront while some have a split payment approach. There are some franchises who have three stages of payments: pre-tournament, mid-tournament and post-tournament. What if a player gets injured? If a player gets injured or opts out for whatever reason before the tournament gets underway, the franchise is not obligated to pay the player. If a player is available and doesn’t play all games, they wll get their entire salary and match fees are not considered. Who pays for the players’ injury treatment? If a player gets injured mid-season, the onus is on the franchise to get them treated. Some teams, like Mumbai Indians, have gone above and beyond and taken care of players in the off-season as well and. While it is required for franchises to cover all costs during the season, some have done it off-season as well.