The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), arguably the richest cricket control board in the world, has paid its recently appointed head-coach Ravi Shastri a hefty pay-packet of Rs.1.20 crores for the combined period of  months.

A former Test and ODI all-rounder and who formed the backbone of Team India during the eighties, Ravi Shastri, who is also renowned for his sharp and exciting brand of cricket commentary, took over as the head-coach of the Indian cricket team recently after differences of opinion crept between former coach Anil Kumble and captain Virat Kohli which led to Kumble resigning as the team’s coach.

Ravi Shastri then took over as the chief coach of the Indian team and was preferred by the Board to coach the team ahead of many former cricketers.  India’s ‘The Wall’ and run-machine Rahul Dravid and former pace spearhead Zaheer Khan, who were in the reckoning to be appointed as the batting and bowling coaches of the team, didn’t get the final nod.

It has now been announced that Ravi Shastri has been paid Rs.1.20 crors for his services rendered during the past three months (from 18th July till 18th October) in his new stint.  The BCCI website has quoted the exact sum of Rs.1,20,87,187 which was paid to Ravi Shastri, who started off as a spinner and later became a regular opening batsman as he blossomed as an all-rounder.

M.S. Dhoni, who has become a ‘living legend’ of Indian cricket along with Sachin Tendulkar (the ‘God of Cricket’), has been paid Rs.57.88 lakhs as his share of the gross revenues from international matches involving India held outside the country.