Former India player Parthiv Patel has revealed that Virat Kohli took a pay cut of Rs. 2 crores for the Royal Challengers Bangalore to be able to retain him in the IPL. Kohli was reportedly retained for Rs. 15 crores as opposed to Rs. 17 crore that he received from his IPL franchise last year.
Speaking to Star Sport, Patel said that Kohli took ‘a pay cut in the larger interest of the team.’ “If he had taken Rs 17 crore, those Rs 2 crore would have been cut from their kitty. The larger interest of the team, he has taken that call and it’s the right call as well. We all know how good a player Virat Kohli is. It’s the right decision from him,” he said.
The RCB paid Rs. 11 crores to Glen Maxwell and Rs. 7 crores to Mohammed Siraj to retain both their star players.
Under the IPL salary cap, the the RCB could not pay Kohli more than 15 crores.
According to the cricktracker website, Kohli said, “When I was contacted I didn’t have any second thoughts at all. I believe the best is yet to come, I have a good feeling about what’s to come from the next season onwards. Committed as an RCBian, we could not be more thankful. I’ll be there with my heart and soul for RCB as always.”
Kohli had announced to step down from the captaincy role in the IPL after the last edition of the competition. Weeks later, he had also announced to quit as the captain of India’s T20 team. Rohit Sharma was later appointed as his successor. Kohli, however, will continue to lead India in both ODI and Test competitions.
Kohli has been representing the RCB since the competiton’s inception in 2008 even he was unable to lead his side to the IPL glory.
