Top 5 Highest Paid Cricketers - India Run To The Top Spot

Cricket has it's following. And it is HUGE.

Cricket, the world's second most favorite sport. Let's be fair, cricket isn't a sport that is adored worldwide, there are many countries who pay little attention to it. But Cricket is phenomenally popular in both India and Pakistan. These two countries combined account for a fifth of the world's population - explaining exactly why cricket is the second most popular sport! But let's not just assume that only Pakistan and India adore cricket, Australia are also great fans along with Great Britain, South Africa and Asia, with a combined total of around 2.3 billion fans! Due to it's following, cricket has produced some of the worlds richest sports stars...

1. MS Dhoni - $26.5 million

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Earning a whopping $26.5 million in 2014, it comes to no surprise that MS Dhoni tops the cricketing rich list. On par with premier league footballers, Dhoni was the only Indian and cricketer to reach the Forbes Top 100 Rich List. It's no secret that the majority of his earnings come through sponsorship and endorsements, but those couldn't have been acheived without his skills as a great player and captain!

2. Sachin Tendulkar - $18.6 million

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The 'God of Cricket' and one of the world's greatest batsmen, Sachin begun playing cricket at the age of 11. He retired from all cricket in 2013, but is still earning the big bucks from sponsors. Sachin was the first sportsman and youngest person to be conferred to the Bharat Ratna - the highest and highly respected civilian award. He reportedly earned $18.6 million in 2014.

3. Gautam Gambhir - $7.3 million

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Captain for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL (Indian Premier League), Gautam is a top-class cricketer. Controversially, Gautum has been dropped from the Indian team a few times, but he has never given up - resulting in his great success. He still earned a reported $7.3 million in 2014 and is the highest run-scorer for India this year!

4. Virat Kohli - $7.1 million

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Virat, a great cricketer and otherwise known for his handsome looks, is set for a promising future. Not that he hasn't already done well... he is currently captain of the Royal Challengers Bangalore and Sportspro have named as the second most marketable athlete in the world (probably due to his good looks). He also has Bollywood ties, being linked to Bollywood beauty Anushka Sharma!

5. Virender Sehwag - $6.9 million

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Virender aspired to play cricket from a young age, pestering his parents to let him do so. When he broke a tooth playing the game, his father banned him from playing cricket any more, but Virender was having none of that! It is a good job that he persuaded his father to let him carry on, as he is now one of the best India players of the last decade, earning a comfortable $6.9 million!