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When Ricky Ponting was playing and captaining Australia, he wasn’t making the kind of money he is earning today as the head coach of Punjab Kings. Days before the IPL began, Ponting’s annual income from cricket was around Rs 1.2 crore. As coach of Punjab Kings, however, he is now earning almost Rs 9.5 crore annually, sources told CricBlogger.
It is also understood that Ponting has emerged as one of the highest-paid coaches in IPL history along with India’s Ashish Nehra. The former left-arm seamer and current Gujarat Titans’ coach Nehra too is in good hands, getting paid quite handsomely and earning nearly as much as Ponting. He started with a relatively modest amount but renegotiated his contract and got a substantial increase after Gujarat Titans won the IPL title in 2022.
New Zealand’s Stephen Fleming, meanwhile, has been decently paid by Chennai Super Kings, earning around Rs 7.5 crore annually.
Sources said former Indian batsman Yuvraj Singh is on the verge of becoming one of the leading paid Indian coaches in the IPL when he takes over as batting coach of Delhi Capitals. Yuvraj is set to earn more than Rs 6 crore annually, while his former India teammate and pacer Zaheer Khan was earning around Rs 5 crore during his stint with Lucknow Super Giants.
Former India captain Rahul Dravid, sources revealed, was paid around Rs 4.5 crore, while several overseas coaches have earned in the region of Rs 4 crore. The list includes Andy Flower at Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Justin Langer at Lucknow Super Giants.
Considering that these are largely assignments lasting only two to three months, the money involved is certainly substantial.
“That’s why former cricketers are increasingly being drawn towards the IPL. The money this league generates is simply unmatched,” another source said.
And that, perhaps, explains why the IPL dugout has become almost as lucrative a destination as the playing field itself.
When the IPL began, the same foreign coaches were being paid between Rs 1.5 crore and Rs 2 crore. Today, there has been a massive surge in coaching salaries, with the top foreign coaches commanding several times those figures.
That is why an increasing number of overseas coaches are now choosing IPL assignments over coaching national teams. The money, combined with a shorter commitment and the opportunity to work with some of the world’s best players, makes the IPL an extremely attractive proposition.
In many ways, the IPL has turned coaching into one of the most lucrative careers in cricket — and the numbers tell the story.
