Ravi Shastri is world's highest paid cricket coach, draws bigger salary than Virat Kohli

Ravi Shastri, the head coach of Indian Cricket Team, is the highest paid cricket coach or manager in the world. He earns more money from BCCI than top Team India players including captain Virat Kohli.

As a coach, Shastri is followed by Australian coach Darren Lehman and England Cricket Team's mentor Trevor Bayliss. As per an ESPN report, Shastri draws a whopping 1.17 million USD (Rs 7 crore 60 lakh) annual salary which is significantly more than Lehman's annual pay of 0.55 million USD and Bayliss' 0.52 million USD yearly earning.

According to the report, South Asian teams pay the coaches more than their top players. The Bangladesh Cricket Board pays Chandika Hathurasingha five times the basic salary of their top player. Similarly, Mickey Arthur is paid three times more than the top category Pakistan player.

However, what comes as a big surprise is the fact that Virat Kohli's salary from the BCCI is less than that of Shastri.

Kohli earns around 1 million USD per year in salary, this is exclusive of the money he earns from advertising, which will be a whole lot more. Kohli's counterparts in Australia and England, namely Steve Smith and Joe Root earn 1.47 million USD and 1.27 million USD respectively.

However, Cricket still has a lot to do if it is to catch up with other global sports as the likes of football and F1.

Cristiano Ronaldo, for example, earns up to 40 times more than Steve Smith just on annual salary, Lewis Hamilton earns 25 times more and LeBron James 20 times as much. Ronaldo's salary is 58 million USD, whereas Hamilton nets in 38 million USD. Lebron James earns 31.2 million dollars.