Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji figure out who are the Most Valuable Players after the league phase of the ICC World Cup for Rediff.com
South Africa Captain A B de Villiers is the most valuable player at the end of the league phase of the 2015 World Cup with a Most Valuable Player Index value of 788 'runs'.
The Sri Lankans, Kumar Sangakkara (MVPI: 686) and Tillakaratne Dilshan (MVPI: 599), are respectively second and third in the MVPI table.
Pacer Mohammad Shami, who has had an excellent World Cup so far, is the best placed Indian at 13th position with a MVPI of 423 having picked up 15 wickets so far.
India's star batsman Virat Kohli, who started the tournament with a century against Pakistan but has since failed to hit a half-century in five innings, lies far behind at 24th with a MVPI of 365.
The Most Valuable Player Index, MVPI, formula picks out batsmen who score a lot of runs at a high strike rate, bowlers who take a lot of wickets at a low economy rate, and fielders who take the most catches or participate in the most run out dismissals -- and collapses a player’s batting + bowling + fielding performance into a single ‘run equivalent’.
Table: Most valuable players so far in 2015 World Cup (at the end of the league phase; March 15, 2015)
| Rank | Player | Team | Runs | 4s | 6s | Strike Rate | W | Eco | Ct St | Run Outs | M | MVPI |
| 1 | A B de Villiers | SA | 417 | 35 | 20 | 144.3 | 4 | 5.9 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 788 |
| 2 | Kumar Sangakkara | SL | 496 | 54 | 7 | 119.5 | 0 | 0.0 | 8 | 0 | 6 | 686 |
| 3 | Tillakaratne Dilshan | SL | 395 | 46 | 3 | 98.3 | 5 | 4.9 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 599 |
| 4 | Brendan Taylor | ZIM | 433 | 43 | 12 | 106.9 | 0 | 0.0 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 574 |
| 5 | Sean Williams | ZIM | 339 | 29 | 6 | 109.0 | 7 | 6.4 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 553 |
| 6 | Daniel Vettori | NZ | 26 | 2 | 1 | 152.9 | 13 | 3.2 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 487 |
| 7 | Chris Gayle | WI | 279 | 15 | 18 | 108.6 | 5 | 5.4 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 477 |
| 8 | Glenn Maxwell | AUS | 257 | 27 | 11 | 190.4 | 3 | 6.3 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 477 |
| 9 | Corey Anderson | NZ | 158 | 15 | 6 | 114.5 | 10 | 4.8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 466 |
| 10 | Mitchell Starc | AUS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 16 | 3.7 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 462 |
| 11 | Wahab Riaz | PAK | 67 | 7 | 2 | 106.3 | 14 | 5.5 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 448 |
| 12 | Shakib Al Hasan | BAN | 186 | 18 | 3 | 106.3 | 7 | 5.0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 430 |
| 13 | Mohammed Shami | IND | 7 | 1 | 0 | 87.5 | 15 | 4.4 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 423 |
| 14 | Trent Boult | NZ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 15 | 4.2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 419 |
| 15 | Brendon McCullum | NZ | 257 | 35 | 12 | 187.6 | 0 | 0.0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 410 |
| 16 | Mushfiqur Rahim | BAN | 271 | 24 | 5 | 113.4 | 0 | 0.0 | 5 | 1.5 | 5 | 405 |
| 17 | Shikhar Dhawan | IND | 337 | 39 | 8 | 94.1 | 0 | 0.0 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 401 |
| 18 | David Miller | SA | 275 | 15 | 11 | 127.9 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 0.5 | 6 | 388 |
| 19 | Morne Morkel | SA | 8 | 1 | 0 | 61.5 | 13 | 4.1 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 388 |
| 20 | Hashim Amla | SA | 307 | 32 | 5 | 98.1 | 0 | 0.0 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 383 |
| 21 | David Warner | AUS | 264 | 27 | 8 | 125.1 | 0 | 0.0 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 377 |
| 22 | Angelo Mathews | SL | 176 | 10 | 7 | 95.1 | 6 | 5.8 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 374 |
| 23 | Jerome Taylor | WI | 26 | 3 | 0 | 72.2 | 14 | 5.1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 373 |
| 24 | Virat Kohli | IND | 301 | 29 | 1 | 85.3 | 0 | 0.0 | 4 | 1.5 | 6 | 365 |
| 26 | Mahmudullah | BAN | 344 | 28 | 6 | 82.9 | 1 | 5.7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 361 |
| 25 | Josh Davey | SCOT | 55 | 5 | 0 | 62.5 | 15 | 6.2 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 361 |
| 27 | Tim Southee | NZ | 12 | 1 | 1 | 171.4 | 13 | 4.8 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 358 |
| 28 | Shaiman Anwar | UAE | 311 | 34 | 4 | 91.5 | 0 | 6.0 | 1 | 0.5 | 6 | 356 |
| 29 | Ravichandran Ashwin | IND | 22 | 0 | 0 | 57.9 | 12 | 4.5 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 344 |
| 30 | Jason Holder | WI | 113 | 7 | 7 | 100.9 | 9 | 5.5 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 343 |
| 31 | Andre Russell | WI | 84 | 6 | 7 | 186.7 | 9 | 5.6 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 339 |
| 32 | Misbah-ul-Haq | PAK | 316 | 24 | 5 | 77.6 | 0 | 0.0 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 333 |
| 33 | Suresh Raina | IND | 212 | 17 | 7 | 111.6 | 1 | 4.1 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 332 |
| 35 | Moeen Ali | ENG | 192 | 24 | 5 | 105.5 | 4 | 5.3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 321 |
| 34 | Imran Tahir | SA | 8 | 1 | 0 | 50.0 | 11 | 4.4 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 321 |
| 36 | Umesh Yadav | IND | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 10 | 4.7 | 8 | 0.5 | 6 | 316 |
| 37 | Mohit Sharma | IND | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 10 | 4.4 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 312 |
| 38 | Ed Joyce | IRL | 246 | 23 | 5 | 98.4 | 0 | 0.0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 299 |
| 40 | Faf du Plessis | SA | 277 | 21 | 3 | 89.1 | 0 | 7.5 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 295 |
| 39 | Amjad Javed | UAE | 170 | 21 | 4 | 87.2 | 7 | 6.5 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 295 |
| 41 | Martin Guptill | NZ | 261 | 31 | 3 | 90.6 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 287 |
| 42 | Lahiru Thirimanne | SL | 261 | 24 | 2 | 84.7 | 0 | 0.0 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 285 |
| 43 | Richie Berrington | SCOT | 139 | 9 | 5 | 76.0 | 7 | 5.7 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 284 |
| 44 | MS Dhoni | IND | 166 | 15 | 4 | 106.4 | 0 | 0.0 | 11 | 1 | 6 | 282 |
| 45 | Andy Balbirnie | IRL | 236 | 20 | 4 | 90.8 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.5 | 6 | 268 |
| 46 | Rilee Rossouw | SA | 171 | 21 | 4 | 134.6 | 0 | 6.5 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 268 |
| 47 | Lasith Malinga | SL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 16.7 | 11 | 5.4 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 264 |
| 48 | Marlon Samuels | WI | 203 | 17 | 4 | 71.7 | 3 | 4.7 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 263 |
| 49 | Dale Steyn | SA | 17 | 3 | 0 | 70.8 | 9 | 4.8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 262 |
| 50 | Aaron Finch | AUS | 197 | 19 | 5 | 110.7 | 0 | 0.0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 261 |
| 51 | Kyle Coetzer | SCOT | 253 | 33 | 4 | 89.7 | 0 | 7.4 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 257 |
| 52 | Shapoor Zadran | AFG | 17 | 2 | 0 | 81.0 | 10 | 5.2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 257 |
| 53 | Niall O'Brien | IRL | 199 | 23 | 3 | 109.3 | 0 | 0.0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 256 |
| 54 | Joe Root | ENG | 202 | 19 | 2 | 84.2 | 1 | 6.2 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 253 |
| 55 | Mohammad Naveed | UAE | 73 | 6 | 5 | 123.7 | 8 | 6.1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 247 |
| 56 | Sohail Khan | PAK | 17 | 1 | 0 | 45.9 | 11 | 5.7 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 246 |
| 57 | Ian Bell | ENG | 262 | 27 | 0 | 77.3 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 242 |
| 58 | Jos Buttler | ENG | 141 | 17 | 2 | 135.6 | 0 | 0.0 | 8 | 0 | 6 | 235 |
| 59 | Kyle Abbott | SA | 12 | 2 | 0 | 63.2 | 8 | 4.1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 235 |
| 60 | William Porterfield | IRL | 275 | 22 | 3 | 67.2 | 0 | 0.0 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 234 |
| 61 | Umar Akmal | PAK | 144 | 15 | 2 | 80.4 | 0 | 0.0 | 11 | 1.5 | 6 | 231 |
| 62 | Soumya Sarkar | BAN | 144 | 20 | 2 | 96.0 | 0 | 4.6 | 7 | 1 | 5 | 226 |
| 64 | Thisara Perera | SL | 62 | 8 | 1 | 155.0 | 6 | 6.7 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 223 |
| 63 | Tendai Chatara | ZIM | 23 | 2 | 0 | 65.7 | 10 | 5.7 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 223 |
| 65 | Jean-Paul Duminy | SA | 156 | 12 | 3 | 100.0 | 2 | 6.2 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 222 |
| 66 | Paul Stirling | IRL | 159 | 17 | 5 | 100.0 | 2 | 5.7 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 221 |
| 67 | Sikandar Raza | ZIM | 125 | 15 | 4 | 99.2 | 2 | 4.9 | 2 | 0.5 | 6 | 221 |
| 69 | Michael Clarke | AUS | 127 | 14 | 2 | 95.5 | 1 | 2.8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 219 |
| 68 | Alex Cusack | IRL | 19 | 1 | 0 | 82.6 | 7 | 4.6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 219 |
| 70 | Brad Haddin | AUS | 119 | 15 | 4 | 163.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 217 |
| 71 | Sabbir Rahman | BAN | 152 | 16 | 5 | 104.8 | 1 | 6.5 | 3 | 0.5 | 5 | 212 |
| 72 | Chris Woakes | ENG | 90 | 6 | 0 | 95.7 | 5 | 6.2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 211 |
| 73 | Mohammad Irfan | PAK | 4 | 0 | 0 | 21.1 | 8 | 4.5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 211 |
| 74 | Rahat Ali | PAK | 1 | 0 | 0 | 16.7 | 7 | 4.1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 207 |
| 75 | Ahmed Shehzad | PAK | 222 | 24 | 1 | 74.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 204 |
| 76 | Shahid Afridi | PAK | 93 | 7 | 5 | 129.2 | 2 | 4.8 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 204 |
| 77 | Hamid Hassan | AFG | 38 | 5 | 0 | 44.2 | 8 | 5.1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 203 |
| 78 | Mitchell Johnson | AUS | 4 | 0 | 0 | 36.4 | 9 | 5.9 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 202 |
| 79 | Sarfraz Ahmed | PAK | 150 | 11 | 3 | 86.7 | 0 | 0.0 | 6 | 0.5 | 2 | 198 |
| 80 | Lendl Simmons | WI | 161 | 13 | 7 | 104.5 | 0 | 12.0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 197 |
| 81 | Mashrafe Mortaza | BAN | 27 | 5 | 0 | 135.0 | 6 | 4.9 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 196 |
| 82 | Kane Williamson | NZ | 183 | 21 | 2 | 82.8 | 0 | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 195 |
| 83 | Mohammad Nabi | AFG | 90 | 8 | 2 | 78.3 | 3 | 5.7 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 192 |
| 84 | Steven Smith | AUS | 176 | 16 | 2 | 85.4 | 0 | 9.5 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 191 |
| 85 | Gary Wilson | IRL | 141 | 15 | 1 | 103.7 | 0 | 0.0 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 189 |
| 86 | Craig Ervine | ZIM | 159 | 12 | 5 | 88.3 | 0 | 0.0 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 188 |
| 87 | Manjula Guruge | UAE | 14 | 1 | 0 | 53.8 | 7 | 4.8 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 188 |
| 88 | Ajinkya Rahane | IND | 145 | 18 | 3 | 98.6 | 0 | 0.0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 183 |
| 89 | Haris Sohail | PAK | 136 | 10 | 1 | 72.3 | 3 | 6.6 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 179 |
| 91 | Sohaib Maqsood | PAK | 124 | 11 | 3 | 93.9 | 1 | 4.0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 174 |
| 90 | Ravindra Jadeja | IND | 18 | 2 | 0 | 56.3 | 7 | 5.3 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 174 |
| 92 | Matt Machan | SCOT | 186 | 21 | 2 | 80.9 | 1 | 7.8 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 173 |
| 93 | Alasdair Evans | SCOT | 38 | 5 | 0 | 66.7 | 6 | 5.4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 164 |
| 94 | Darren Sammy | WI | 150 | 14 | 5 | 93.2 | 1 | 6.7 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 162 |
| 95 | Dwayne Smith | WI | 93 | 13 | 2 | 80.2 | 1 | 3.9 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 162 |
| 97 | Shane Watson | AUS | 114 | 13 | 2 | 120.0 | 2 | 7.8 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 162 |
| 96 | Rohit Sharma | IND | 159 | 18 | 4 | 85.5 | 0 | 7.0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 162 |
| 98 | Grant Elliott | NZ | 116 | 13 | 1 | 90.6 | 2 | 8.4 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 161 |
| 99 | Kevin O'Brien | IRL | 131 | 16 | 3 | 100.0 | 6 | 8.2 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 159 |
| 100 | James Taylor | ENG | 149 | 12 | 3 | 88.7 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 158 |
Team ' Runs (scored) ' 4s ' 6s ' Strike rate ' W: Wickets taken ' Eco: Economy rate 'Ct St: Catches, stumpings ' Run outs ' M: Matches played ' MVPI: Most valuable player index = sum of batting, bowling and fielding points '*Run outs are counted as 1 (wicket) for a direct hit, and 0.5 (wicket) if the fielder is an equal participant in a run out dismissal.
Some other interesting stats:
The top 10 run-getters in the group stage:
| Kumar Sangakkara | SL | 496 |
| Brendan Taylor | ZIM | 433 |
| A B de Villiers | SA | 417 |
| Tillakaratne Dilshan | SL | 395 |
| Mahmudullah | BAN | 344 |
| Sean Williams | ZIM | 339 |
| Shikhar Dhawan | IND | 337 |
| Misbah-ul-Haq | PAK | 316 |
| Shaiman Anwar | UAE | 311 |
| Hashim Amla | SA | 307 |
The top 10 wicket-takers in the group stage:
| Mitchell Starc | AUS | 16 |
| Josh Davey | SCOT | 15 |
| Mohammed Shami | IND | 15 |
| Trent Boult | NZ | 15 |
| Wahab Riaz | PAK | 14 |
| Jerome Taylor | WI | 14 |
| Daniel Vettori | NZ | 13 |
| Tim Southee | NZ | 13 |
| Morne Morkel | SA | 13 |
| Ravichandran Ashwin | IND | 12 |
Most fours in the group stage:
| Kumar Sangakkara | SL | 54 |
| Tillakaratne Dilshan | SL | 46 |
| Brendan Taylor | ZIM | 43 |
| Shikhar Dhawan | IND | 39 |
| A B de Villiers | SA | 35 |
| Brendon McCullum | NZ | 35 |
| Shaiman Anwar | UAE | 34 |
| Kyle Coetzer | SCOT | 33 |
| Hashim Amla | SA | 32 |
| Martin Guptill | NZ | 31 |
Most sixes in the group stage: (Notice the poor overlap between scorers of 4s and 6s)
| A B de Villiers | SA | 20 |
| Chris Gayle | WI | 18 |
| Brendan Taylor | ZIM | 12 |
| Brendon McCullum | NZ | 12 |
| Glenn Maxwell | AUS | 11 |
| David Miller | SA | 11 |
| Shikhar Dhawan | IND | 8 |
| David Warner | AUS | 8 |
The top 10 strike rates in the group stage (for batsmen scoring over 200 runs):
| Glenn Maxwell | AUS | 257 | 190.4 |
| Brendon McCullum | NZ | 257 | 187.6 |
| A B de Villiers | SA | 417 | 144.3 |
| David Miller | SA | 275 | 127.9 |
| David Warner | AUS | 264 | 125.1 |
| Kumar Sangakkara | SL | 496 | 119.5 |
| Mushfiqur Rahim | BAN | 271 | 113.4 |
| Suresh Raina | IND | 212 | 111.6 |
| Sean Williams | ZIM | 339 | 109.0 |
| Chris Gayle | WI | 279 | 108.6 |
The top 10 economy rates in the group stage (for bowlers taking 5 or more wickets):
| Daniel Vettori | NZ | 13 | 3.2 |
| Mitchell Starc | AUS | 16 | 3.7 |
| Kyle Abbott | SA | 8 | 4.1 |
| Morne Morkel | SA | 13 | 4.1 |
| Rahat Ali | PAK | 7 | 4.1 |
| Trent Boult | NZ | 15 | 4.2 |
| Mohammed Shami | IND | 15 | 4.4 |
| Imran Tahir | SA | 11 | 4.4 |
| Mohit Sharma | IND | 10 | 4.4 |
| Ravichandran Ashwin | IND | 12 | 4.5 |
Finally, the top nine catchers in the group stage (not a surprise to see wicket-keepers dominating; but Umesh Yadav is a surprise):
| Denesh Ramdin | WI | 13 |
| M S Dhoni | IND | 11 |
| Umar Akmal | PAK | 11 |
| Matthew Cross | SCOT | 10 |
| Luke Ronchi | NZ | 10 |
| Kumar Sangakkara | SL | 8 |
| Umesh Yadav | IND | 8 |
| Jos Buttler | ENG | 8 |
| Brad Haddin | AUS | 8 |
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