'It's a no-brainer'- Ravi Shastri explains why he would have earned a premium price tag in IPL auction

Ravi Shastri is one of the finest all-rounders to have represented India at the highest level. In his 11-year long international career from 1981 to 1992, Shastri was part of two of India’s famous triumphs – the 1983 World Cup and the 1985 World Championship of Cricket. In the 1985 tournament, he was adjudged the Player of the Series and also went on to win the prestigious Audi 100 car.

Post-retirement, the Mumbai cricketer has also gone on to prove his mettle as a broadcaster, cricket pundit, and the head coach of India. Lately, the 59-year-old has opened up about the amount of salary that he would have drawn had he gone under the hammer at the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction. Shastri made it clear that he would have fetched a premium price to play in the marquee tournament.

I would have comfortably been in the 15-crore bracket: Ravi Shastri

“Comfortably in the 15 crore bracket. Comfortably! And captain of the side. No question. It’s a no-brainer,” said Shastri while speaking to ESPNcricinfo. Notably, the salary amount that Shastri has set for himself is more than legendary skipper MS Dhoni’s IPL 2022 salary.

Dhoni, who was drawing more than INR 15 crores in the last few years, decided to take a massive pay cut this time around and was retained by CSK for INR 12 crores. Star all-rounder and the new skipper Ravindra Jadeja is the franchise’s highest-paid cricketer for the ongoing season, having offered a staggering INR 16 crores.

Meanwhile, the former all-rounder’s stint as India’s head coach ended after the team crashed out in the Super 12 of the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 in November last year. Under his term, the Indian team had so many memorable on-field performances, including winning their maiden bilateral ODI series in South Africa in 2018 and Australia in 2019. The Men In Blue also registered back-to-back Test series triumphs Down Under in the 2018/19 and 2020/21 seasons, respectively.

In 2021, India also made the finals of the inaugural edition of the ICC World Test Championship and are leading England 2-1 in an inconclusive away Test series with the fifth and final Test set to be played in July this year.