7. Cheteshwar Pujara – ₹5 Crores
India’s latest overseas Test performances wouldn’t have been possible without Pujara. He is extremely patient and loves to bat for long hours. Pujara played the most important role in India’s maiden Test series victory on Australian soil recently.
Pujara loves the longest format and also musters up a lot of runs. Batting at No. 3, Pujara holds the batting lineup during tough times. As a result he is known as the ‘modern-day wall’ in the cricketing fraternity.
8. Ajinkya Rahane – ₹5 Crores
The Indian Test vice-captain is going through a rough phase currently. For the last year or so, Rahane isn’t in the best of forms. His strongest forte was playing in overseas conditions. But now it has become a huge challenge for him.
However Rahane is a very hardworking cricketer and always tries to improve his game. He doesn’t play much limited-overs cricket nowadays. But in Test format, if he can get going, it becomes very hard for the opposition to stop him.
9. Bhuvneshwar Kumar – ₹5 Crores
Bhuvi has been suffering from constant injuries over the last year. This has hindered his progress at a huge level. Once the pacer played all the three formats, but over th elast few months Bhuvi has played a handful of games.
As a result Bhuvi’s ‘Grade A+’ contract was downgraded to ‘Grade A’ this year. He will now earn ₹5 crores instead of ₹7 crores. Bhuvi is expected to make a good comeback and is considered one of India’s main weapons in the upcoming World Cup.