It is no secret that cricket is the most followed sports in India and the most profitable one as well. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) made over Rs 43,000 crore just by selling the media rights of the Indian Premier League (IPL) tournament. It is no secret that the likes of Virat Kohli, former India skipper MS Dhoni and India cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar all have net worth of over Rs 1,000 crore.

However, the net worth of Kohli, Dhoni and Tendulkar pales in comparison to an almost unknown first-class cricketer from the state of Baroda. A state which has produced former India cricketers like Irfan Pathan and Yusuf Pathan, is home to India’s richest Indian cricketer – Samarjitsingh Ranjitsinh Gaekwad, who has reported net worth of over Rs 20,000 crore.

He is the only son of Ranjitsinh Pratapsinh Gaekwad and Shubhangini Raje. Samarjitsinh turned out in six first-class for Baroda between the 1987-88 and 1988-89 season. He also went on to become a cricket administrator after his retirement and served as the president of the Baroda Cricket Association (BCA).

Secret to Samarjitsinh Gaekwad’s net worth

Samarjitsingh Gaekwad overnight became one of the richest cricketers in the world, when the Gaekwads of Baroda settled a 23-year-old inheritance dispute worth over 3 billion pounds in 2013 or about Rs 20,000 crore. The Maharaja of Baroda was once the ruler of one of India’s most powerful princely states, with his own army and navy which he controlled from the Laxmi Vilas Palace, a grand property believed to be four times the size of Buckingham Palace and set in 600 acres with its own golf course as well.

It is no wonder that Samarjitsinh is a more than proficient golfer as well. The estimated £3 billion estate was in dispute however since shortly after the death of Maharaja Fetehsinghrao Gaekwad in 1988. His younger brother Ranjitsinh succeeded him but another brother Sangramsinh said family tradition meant he was entitled to a half share in the estate.

“Their mother disowned him after he launched his legal action, but negotiations to settle the 23 year dispute were launched by Ranjtsinh’s heir, Maharaja Samarjitsinh Gaekwad, shortly after his coronation last year,” UK’s The Telegraph newspaper reported.

Under the agreement Maharaja Samarjitsinh Gaekwad retained Laxmi Vilas Palace and the lion’s share of the estate, including most of its jewellery and a collection of valuable paintings by the 19th century Indian painter Raja Ravi Verma.