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ChennaiSuper Kings captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is now the highest earning cricketerin the world. He is the most heavily insured player for the forthcoming IndianPremier League (IPL) T20 tournament. IPL begins on April 8.

Aninsurance firm official confirmed that the Indian captain, who led CSK tovictory in IPL 3, has been insured for Rs 34 crore by the Oriental InsuranceCompany (OIC)-a rise of Rs 24 crore over his insurance cover for IPL 3. CSK haspaid a premium of Rs 16 lakh, which includes travel risk cover, includingmedical emergencies, personal accident and loss of baggage.

SureshRaina, retained by CSK, will get an insurance cover of Rs 20.5 crore. Incidentally,little master Sachin Tendulkar, who will play for Mukesh Ambani's MumbaiIndians for the fourth consecutive season, has an insurance cover of only Rs 12crore.

MahelaJayawardene, the skipper of Kochi Tuskers Kerala, has been insured for Rs 20.5crore. "He seems to be most highly insured overseas player for thetournament," said a source, adding, "Speedster Dale Steyn from SouthAfrica, who will be playing for Deccan Chargers, has been insured for Rs 16crore."

Accordingto a source from the insurance industry, every insurance company and IPL teamhave a different methodology of finalizing an insurance policy. "Forexample, Ambani has decided to take comprehensive cover for his team, whichincludes event cancellation cover, workmen's compensation, personal accidentcover, medical cover and so on," he said. "For this, he is likely toshell out a premium of around Rs 1.5 crore to the National Insurance Company."

Thecover will be active till the time the final is played on May 28. The policycan be invoked in the event of the death of a player or total disability,permanent partial disability or temporary total disability. The policy holderwill be paid compensation for injuries that are sustained on and off the fieldduring the duration of the tournament. One of the rules of IPL is that even ifthe player is benched due to a disability, he has to be paid his dues by thefranchisee. The cover is being taken by the franchisee to cover his or herfinancial interest.

Manyowners are still in the process of finalizing the insurance cover for theirteam. "Most of the franchise representatives involved in the insurancenegotiations don't understand the trade and there's a lot of confusion," saida source. "Hence the delay in finalizing the insurance policy for many ofthe teams."

Theofficial added that many franchise owners seemed to be keen to save money onpremium. "However, they do not realize that most of the rates for suchrisky policies are based on those quoted by reinsures like Llyods of London. Hence,many teams are taking only partial cover to save money on premium, which is abit risky," he said. Leander Dias, insurance official from OIC, who is anexpert on cricket-related policy, is negotiating with several franchises butrefused to comment on the developments.

Incidentally,for the recently held ICC World Cup, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) bought a group personal accident policy from OIC. Each player can expecta financial benefit up to Rs. 2.3 crore under this policy.