Virender Sehwag's 1st IPL salary was lesser than Ishant Sharma's for THIS stunning reason

Former Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag was one of the most attacking openers of his time. The 'Nawab of Najafgarh' is regarded as one of those players that changed the dynamics of Test cricket. The 41-year-old mostly used to deal in boundaries and sixes when he used to open the innings for India. When Virender Sehwag got going, there were hardly any bowlers who could stop him from taking them to cleaners.

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Ishant Sharma's IPL salary was way more than that of Virender Sehwag in IPL 2008

Virender Sehwag was an exciting prospect ahead of the IPL 2008 because of his ability to score runs quickly. The ex-cricketer was bought by the Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) for USD $834,000 (₹3.3 crore back then) and was also named their icon player. According to the tournament's first set of rules (although abolished now), the team's icon player was a status given to five players of the IPL to ensure that top draw players will represent their respective home city sides, which was important for the league to increase fan support and interest among the locals. 

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The rules stated that the icon player received 15% more money than the highest-paid player of the team. And as far as the now Delhi Capitals are concerned, Gautam Gambhir was the highest-paid player who was bought by the franchise for USD $725,000 which is why Virender Sehwag received an additional 15% to Gautam Gambhir's IPL 2008 salary, which accounted to USD$ 834,000.

However, when Virender Sehwag's salary is compared to some of the younger players, we realize how his salary was perhaps less than what he deserved. In fact, Virender Sehwag's salary was way less than youngster and his Delhi teammate Ishant Sharma, who had just started his career back then. Although Ishant Sharma played for Delhi's Ranji Trophy team, he was bought by the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for a whopping USD $950,000 and was part of the draft since he had already played international cricket for India.

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However, the player who benefitted massively from Ishant Sharma's IPL salary was former India captain Sourav Ganguly, who was named the icon player and captain of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). As Ishant Sharma was the costliest player for the KKR, Sourav Ganguly fetched a massive IPL contract worth USD $1,093,000 (₹4.37 crore as of 2008) per season.

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IMAGE COURTESY: PTI / IPLT20.COM