IPL 2021: MS Dhoni creates this unique salary record, way ahead of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma

MS Dhoni will lead Chennai Super Kings in this edition of the IPL.

Chennai, February 2: The Chennai Super Kings enter the IPL 2021 under the trusted leadership of MS Dhoni. They have a redemption act to perform and Dhoni is the perfect man to the task.

There were some doubts whether Dhoni would lead Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2021, but both the Jharkhand man and the franchise quickly dispelled all those talks. Now, Dhoni is on the verge of entering a unique club as far as his IPL salary is concerned. Let's have a closer look.

1. MS Dhoni in Rs 150 crore club

From 2008, barring two years of CSK's suspension, MS Dhoni has been a part of the Super Kings and their captain too. As per a report in the Insidesport, Dhoni will cross the Rs 150 crore as salary alone in the IPL 2021. Till now, Dhoni has earned Rs 137 as his salary in the IPL and with CSK retaining him for another season, he has been assured of another Rs 15 crore. The BCCI has fixed the salary/retaining fee of the icon players as Rs 15 crore. Dhoni is the first cricketer - Indian or foreign - to go past this mark in the history of the IPL.

2. IPL salary of Virat Kohli

It could be interesting to see the salary of Virat Kohli getting from the Royal Challengers Bangalore as he has also been with that team from 2008. Kohli took over as the captain in 2014, though he became a marquee player much later as Rahul Dravid and then Anil Kumble had occupied that seat at the RCB. The Challengers had retained the service of Kohli for Rs 17 crore in 2018, thus the sealing of Rs 15 crore did not apply for him. Kohli earns the highest IPL salary of Rs 17 crore but overall, he is slightly behind Dhoni and has a total IPL salary of Rs 143.2 crore including this year's payment.

3. IPL salary of Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma gets Rs 15 crore per IPL edition, as per the cap decided by the BCCI. Rohit's total earnings from the IPL as salary stands at Rs 146.6 crore. But unlike Kohli, Rohit has played for another franchise as he began his IPL journey with the now-defunct Deccan Chargers before migrating to Mumbai Indians. He took over MI captain in 2014 and in the last seven editions of the IPL, he has led them to five titles. They are the most successful IPL team now.

4. What is the IPL 2021 target of CSK, MI and RCB?

MI are the defending champions winning their fifth title in the IPL 2020 held in the UAE and they would not like to see that title slipping away. The Super Kings had exited the IPL 2020 in the league stage itself, a first in their history. The CSK will be eager to return to their winning ways and add a 4th title. Meanwhile, the Royal Challengers will be seeking their first title in IPL 2021. They had entered the play-off last edition.