Insurance cover for cricketers in IPL4 is three times higher than auction price

KOLKATA: The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2011 will see individual covers for auctioned players double this time, with Gautam Gambhir from Kolkata Knight Riders getting the highest individual insurance of 32 crore.

Last year, the highest cover went to West Indies player Kieron Pollard from Mumbai Indians who got the largest individual cover of 15 crore.

The cover, like last year, will include personal accident insurance, a mediclaim and a loss of baggage insurance, including cricketing kit for each of the players. Covers for each player were decided on a simple formula - three times the auction price any player has fetched. Last time, it was six times the auction price.

By that calculation, Gambhir, who fetched $2,400,000 ( 10.8 crore) in the auction will command a cover of $7,200,000 ( 32 crore) during the entire tenure of the tournament starting April 8. The cover will be active till the time the final is played - May 28 and will remain effective in India and abroad, wherever, IPL matches are played.

"Despite the reduction in the multiple, players are being offered higher covers because they fetched higher auction prices this time. The multiple has been reduced possibly because of a lot of changes in the rules of IPL that were introduced some time ago," a senior insurance official told ET.

Public sector insurers, including New India Assurance and Oriental Insurance , are in talks with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for offering a host of covers, including individual as well as terror cover.

Going by auction prices, the second highest cover of 28 crore will go to Yusuf Pathan from KKR and and Robin Uthappa of Pune Warriors. Rohit Sharma from Mumbai Indians will get a 27-crore cover. Irfan Pathan and Sachin Tendulkar will get 25 crore and 24 crore, respectively.

In contrast, during IPL 2010, Dhoni, the skipper for the Chennai Super Kings bagged a 10-crore cover followed by Andrew Symonds at 9 crore from Deccan Chargers. Tendulkar, the captain for Mumbai Indians, got a 7.5-crore policy.

However, covers during IPL 2009 were higher than the current year because matches were played in South Africa . The highest individual cover of $10.5 million ( 52 crore) was for Mahendra Singh Dhoni - the Indian skipper and the captain of Chennai Super Kings - during that year. Sachin Tendulkar, playing for Mumbai Indians had a cover of $7.8 million ( 39 crore) while Sourav Ganguly, who was with Kolkata Knight Riders, got a $7.65-million ( 38.2 crore) cover. Kings XI Punjab's Yuvraj Singh had a $ 7.5-million ( 37 crore) cover.