It is common belief that Indian cricketers are some of the highest-earning sports persons around the world. India cricket legends like Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni have a net-worth of over Rs 1,000 crore each, according to latest reports. However, their earning pale in comparison to these two first-class cricketers – Aryaman Birla and Samarjitsinh Ranjitsinh Gaekwad – who have a combined net-worth of over Rs 90,000 crore reportedly.
Between the two, Aryaman Birla is probably the more accomplished cricketer and the biggest business scion as well. Aryaman made his first-class debut for Madhya Pradesh in 2017-18 Ranji Trophy season. In November 2018, he went on to score his maiden first-class century as well.
Who is Aryaman Birla?
Aryaman Birla is the son of billionaire Indian businessman Kumar Mangalam Birla, the chairman of the Aditya Birla Group. The net-worth of Aditya Birla Group is in the range of Rs 4.95 lakh crore reportedly. The group includes brands like Grasim, Hindalco, Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail and Aditya Birla Capital. The group has over 1,40,000 employees.
Former Indian Premier League (IPL) champions Rajasthan Royals bought Aryaman Birla for Rs 30 lakh in the IPL 2018 even before he scored a first-class century.
In 9 first-class matches, Aryaman managed to score 414 runs with one century and 1 fifty to his name. However, after 2019, Aryaman decided to take a break from cricket due to mental health reason.
“It’s been a journey of hard work, perseverance, dedication and immense courage to get to this point in my cricket career. However, I’ve been coping with severe anxiety related to the sport for a while now,” Aryaman Birla wrote in a post on Twitter.
“I’ve felt trapped. I’ve pushed myself through all the distress so far, but now I feel the need to put my mental health and well-being above all else. And so, I’ve decided to take an undefined sabbatical from cricket. This lovely sport is an integral part of my life and I hope to be back on the field when the time is right,” he added.
— Aryaman Vikram Birla (@AryamanBirla) December 20, 2019
In February this year, Aryaman Birla and his sister Ananya Birla were inducted into the Grasim Industries, the flagship company of Aditya Birla Group as directors. Aryaman Birla reportedly has a net worth of around Rs 70,000 crore.
Who is Samarjitsinh Ranjitsinh Gaekwad?
Samarjitsinh was born on 25 April, 1967 as the only son of Ranjitsinh Pratapsinh Gaekwad and Shubhanginiraje. He studied at The Doon School in Dehradun where he simultaneously captained the school’s cricket, football and tennis teams as well.
After the death of his father in May 2012, Samarjitsinh was crowned Maharaja in a traditional ceremony at Laxmi Vilas Palace on 22 June 2012. He went on to settle a 23-year-long legal inheritance dispute worth more than Rs 20,000 crore (equivalent to US $3.6 billion in 2020) with his uncle Sangramsinh Gaekwad in 2013.
Happy Marriage Anniversary to H.H. Shrimant. #Samarjitsinh_Gaekwad ji and Maharani. Smt. @RadhikarajeG ji
of Erstwhile Baroda State , Vadodara.
____ pic.twitter.com/9zKMWfSQY8— POOJA SHROTRIYA__ (@poojashrotriya1) February 27, 2022
Through the deal, Samarjitsinh secured ownership of Laxmi Vilas Palace, over 600 acres of real estate near the palace including Moti Bagh Stadium in Vadodara and Maharaja Fateh Singh Museum, several paintings by Raja Ravi Varma as well as movable assets belonging to Fatehsinghrao such as gold, silver and royal jewelry.
That’s not all, he also manages temple trusts of 17 temples in Gujarat and Banaras. Since 2002, Samarjitsinh is married to Radhikaraje, who is from the royal family of Wankaner State and the couple has two daughters. The four of them, along with Shubhanginiraje, live in the Laxmi Vilas Palace, which is the largest private residence in India.
Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni have net worth of over Rs 1,000 crore each
According to a recent report, Virat Kohli has a net worth of around Rs 1,050 crore. The Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) batter earns a total of Rs 15 crore from Indian Premier League (IPL 2023). This is finding of a report from Stock Gro.
When it comes to earning from Indian cricket team, Kohli gets Rs 15 lakh per Test match, Rs 6 lakh for each ODI and Rs 3 lakh for playing a T20I. Not to forget, Kohli has a ‘A+’ contract with Board for Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which gives him Rs 7 crore a year.
According to a report from Stock Gro, Chennai Super Kings skipper MS Dhoni’s net worth is around Rs 1,040 crore. His several investments, brand endorsements and IPL salary has helped him script the remarkable financial sucess. He reportedly earns Rs 12 crore as salary from his IPL team CSK.
