Cricket is counted among the most popular sports of the world and just like all other major sports Cricket is also involving massive amount of money each coming day. Especially after the introduction of different T20 Leagues, Cricket has succeed to attract more people as well as sponsors which at the end brings a lot of money for Players and Top Cricket Boards. If we talk about World’s Richest Athletes then you can see the names of some high profile cricketers like MS Dhoni and Virat Kholi who are receiving massive money from their pro-career as well as from endorsement deals.
| Position | Nation | Player | Salary | Endorsement | Annual Income |
| 1st | Ind | Virat Kohli | $10.9m (IPL & BCCI Contract) | $22m | $32.9m |
| 2nd | Ind | MS Dhoni | $6.7m (IPL & BCCI Contract) | $17m | $23.7m |
| 3rd | WI | Chris Gayle | $4.5m (T20 Leagues ) | $3m | $7.5m |
| 4th | SA | AB De Villiers | $7m (IPL & National contract) | $3m | $10m |
| 5th | Aus | David Warner | $3.5m (National & T20 Leagues) | $2m | $5.5m |
| 6th | Aus | Mitchel Starc | $3.5m (National & IPL agreement) | $500,000 | $4m |
| 7th | Ind | Virender Sehwag | $1.8m (IPL Contract) | $2m | $3.8m |
| 8th | Ind | Yuvraj Singh | $1.8m (IPL Contract) | $2m | $3.8m |
| 9th | Ind | Gautam Gambhir | $1.5m (IPL Contract) | $1m | $2.5m |
| 10th | Aus | Steven Smith | $2m (National & IPL deal) | $500,000 | $2.5m |
Back in 2012-14, Forbes has named MS Dhoni among the top 30 highest paid athletes of the world and that was the time when India had won World Cup 2011 under his captaincy. As per their reports MS Dhoni with around $28 million annual income was the 23rd richest athlete of the world. MS Dhoni has earned most of his income from his profitable sponsorship deals. As per sources Dhoni has earned almost $23 million from his endorsement deals whereas his contract with Indian Cricket Board only worth $3.5 million.
Currently Virat Kholi with $32.9 million annual income is declared as the highest paid cricketer of the world followed by MS Dhoni whose annual income has dropped down to $23.7 million due to fall in his endorsement deals but MS Dhoni has succeed to increase his contract fee with BCCI that now reaches $6.7 million per year from $3.5 million few years back.
Australia left hand opener David Warner with around $5.5 million annual salary is the 5th highest paid athlete in cricket followed by his country mate pace bowler Mitchel Starc who is making almost $4 million annual income from different sources.