The most expensive cricket bat was Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s bat sold at auction for £100,000 ($161,295), bought by R K Global Shares & Securities Ltd (India), at the M.S Dhoni’s ‘East Meets West’ Charity Dinner, in London, UK, on 18 July 2011.

Salix alba Caerulea

The bat is traditionally made from willow wood, specifically from a variety of white willow called cricket bat willow (Salix alba var. caerulea), treated with raw (unboiled) linseed oil, which has a protective function.

With willow bats, choose between:

• English willow, which is regarded as the best material because it’s the most springy. Because of this, it tends to be the most expensive.
• Kashmir willow, which is less springy than English willow, but more so than pine. It is also highly durable, which makes it a good in-between choice.

Cricket-bat willow (Salix alba Caerulea) is also grown in Asia, particularly Kashmir, but this is used for the cheaper models, as it’s of poorer quality.

All adult English willow bats are Graded and have specific price points.

• Grade 1 –These are the best grade of willow used by professional players.
• Grade 2 –Premium unbleached English willow, with straight grains with some blemishes and marks on the blade of the bat.

A high quality English willow is more expensive than a high quality Kashmir willow. Also, an English willow has a better ping off the bat and is lighter compared to a comparable quality Kashmir willow, leading to better bat speed and ping off the bat.

Grade 2 Bats: Very good quality willow bats, with mostly Straight grains, usually more than four. There may be minor blemishes or knots, which are only natural in the product. These bats are usually Lightweight, and are the preferred choice for Club cricketers. Grade 3 Bats: Good quality willow, good performance bats.

This is a middle grade that is produced in much higher numbers than the top grades and it offers very good value for money. A Grade 3 Blade has up to half colour across the blade which again has no direct relation to the playing ability of the wood, it just has less visual attraction.

G1 is the top grade of Kashmir willow available, you can expect 6+ grains and will have a clean playing surface.

Here are the heaviest bats used by such batsmen:

1. David Warner, Gray Nicolls Kaboom.
2. MS Dhoni’s Spartan Bat.
3. Virender Sehwag, SG VS 319.
4. Chris Gayle, Spartan CG “Universe Boss”
5. Sachin Tendulkar, MRF, Adidas.

Let us look at the Top 10 Best Cricket Bats in the World.

• Reebok Centurian.
• SS Ton Gladiator.
• Puma Evopower.
• Sanspareils Greenlands Savage Xtreme. Sanspareils-Greenlands-Cobra-select.
• Gunn & Moore Icon. Gunn-Moore-Icon.
• Gray Nicolls Kaboom. Gray-Nicolls-Kaboom.
• Adidas Libro 5.0. Adidas-Libro-5.
• Kookaburra Kahuna. Kookaburra-Kahuna.

Compare with similar items

The captain of the Indian cricket team uses bats that weigh between 1.1 and 1.23 kg and are made of Grade-A English willow. They have a curved blade, with a thickness ranging from 38 to 42 mm. The bats cost anywhere between Rs 17,000 to Rs 23,000.

The top bats that command the highest prices are tight grain from slow growing willow trees; a rarity that command a premium price for the clefts.

As a general rule for part-time players we would recommend a lower limit of around £60, and an upper limit of £400. If you dream of emulating the likes of Root and Kohli, you can certainly find bats for more than this but, for the most part, models that go for between £100-£200 should do the job just fine.

Cricket Balls Price in India

Questions & Answers on Cricket Bat

Current India captain Virat Kohli uses an ‘MRF bat’ too. In 2017, he signed an eight-year deal worth more than Rs 100 crore with the tyre maker. It is this mega revenue generating opportunity that Gill was seeking when he carried a label-less bat at the Gabba.

CEAT – Tyre manufacturer – CEAT is the bat sponsor of Rohit. The deal was signed in November 2015 for a whopping ₹ three crores per annum.

Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma is at the second place when it comes to making money from the IPL. The explosive opener has a total earnings of Rs 146.6 crore from the cash-rich league. Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli is the third highest earning player of the IPL.

1. Rohit Sharma. Rohit Sharma is the only player to win six IPL trophies and to win the title in three different countries.

Rs 7 crore per year

• Virat Kohli. The highest-paid player in a single edition of the IPL, Virat Kohli has a salary of Rs 17 crore, Rs 2 crore more than the highest retention price.
• Chris Morris.
• Yuvraj Singh.
• Pat Cummins.
• MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma, Kyle Jamieson.

Anushka Sharma earns an estimated salary of ₹ 12 Crore Per Year.

1,8 million USD (2016)

Former India skipper MS Dhoni is the second richest cricketer in the world with a net worth of Rs 767 crore. Team India skipper Virat Kohli is the third richest cricketer in the world with a net worth of Rs 638 crore.

MS Dhoni is richer than Virat Kohli. Although Virat is the highest paid cricketer in the world, his net worth is at $92 Million. Whereas, Dhoni retains a net worth of $111 Million.

Sachin Tendulkar, who is fondly hailed as ‘God of Cricket’ is the richest cricketer in the world in 2021. He has been associated with several top brands throughout his career including the popular tyre brand MRF. His staggering net worth is estimated to be around INR 870 crores.