Andre Russell is the MVP of IPL 2019

Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji identify the Most Valuable Players in IPL 2019 at the end of the season.

IMAGE: Andre Russell has been in smashing form with the bat in IPL-12. Photograph: BCCI

The 2019 IPL was arguably even more captivating and compelling than earlier editions.

In spite of a strong challenge from Hardik Pandya, Andre Russell eventually held on to his position as the most valuable player of this year's IPL, a position that he held consistently right through this IPL.

Eventually Russell, Pandya and David Warner bagged the top three positions in this year's IPL.

The table below lists the top three players (with their MVPI) in all earlier versions of the IPL.

Table 1: The three best performing players in all the 12 IPLs (2008-2019)

Year	Player I	Player II	Player III
2008	Sanath Jayasuriya, MI, 729	Shane Watson, RR, 699	Shaun Marsh, KXIP, 649
2009	Adam Gilchrist, DC, 753	Matthew Hayden, CSK, 678	Suresh Raina, CSK, 667
2010	Suresh Raina, CSK, 784	Jacques Kallis, RCB, 780	Keiron Pollard, MI, 772
2011	Chris Gayle, RCB, 953	Lasith Malinga, MI, 629	Yusuf Pathan, KKR, 608
2012	Chris Gayle, RCB, 837	Dwayne Bravo, CSK, 697	Gautam Gambhir, KKR, 688
2013	Chris Gayle, RCB, 864	Shane Watson, RR, 851	Mike Hussey, CSK, 764
2014	Robin Uthappa, KKR, 777	G Maxwell, KXIP, 737	Suresh Raina, CSK, 666
2015	Dwayne Bravo, CSK, 698	A B de Villiers, RCB, 691	David Warner, SRH, 685
2016	Virat Kohli, RCB, 1128	David Warner, SRH, 965	A B de Villiers, RCB, 907
2017	David Warner, SRH, 727	Ben Stokes, RPS, 609	G Maxwell, KXIP, 548
2018	Rishabh Pant, DD, 897	K L Rahul, KXIP, 839	Kane Williamson, SRH, 836

Recall that the most valuable player index (MVPI) tries to encapsulate the cricketers' performances in terms of a 'run equivalent'.

The MVPI formula rewards runs by batsmen, but rewards a little more if it is scored at a high strike rate.

Likewise, MVP rewards wicket-taking bowlers, but offers additional rewards to good economy rates.

Table 2, below, gives the MVPI details, and all the other key IPL performance variables, including the paisa vasool index (PVI) which estimates how much the franchise owner pays (in US$) for every 'run equivalent' contributed.

A low PVI makes the player more valuable to his franchise.

IMAGE: Kolkata Knight Riders players Kuldeep Yadav, left, and Piyush Chawla applaud Andre Russell after his match-winning knock in IPL-12. Photograph: BCCI

Table 2: Best performing players of IPL 12 (after Match 60 ending 12.5.19)

	Player's Name	Team	From	Run	Top Score	4's	6's	Str Rate	W	Eco	M	MVPI	PVI(US$)	Age
1	Andre Russell	KKR	WI	510	80	31	52	204.8	11	9.5	14	834	1456	31
2	Hardik Pandya	MI	IND	402	91	28	29	191.4	14	9.2	16	758	2073	26
3	David Warner	SRH	AUS	692	100	57	21	143.9	0	-	12	751	2378	32
4	Rishabh Pant	DC	IND	488	78	37	27	160	0	-	16	686	3124	22
5	KL Rahul	KXI	IND	593	100	49	25	135.4	0	-	14	638	2463	27
6	Quinton de Kock	MI	SA	529	81	45	25	132.9	0	-	16	611	655	26
7	Shikhar Dhawan	DC	IND	521	97	64	11	135.7	0	-	16	574	1294	33
8	Jonny Bairstow	SRH	ENG	445	114	48	18	157.2	0	-	10	573	548	33
9	Chris Gayle	KXI	WI	490	99	45	34	153.6	0	-	13	555	515	40
10	AB de Villiers	RCB	SA	442	82	31	26	154	0	-	13	525	2993	35
11	Imran Tahir	CSK	SA	0	0	0	0	-	26	6.7	17	524	273	40
12	Virat Kohli	RCB	IND	464	100	46	13	141.5	0	-	14	519	4679	30
13	MS Dhoni	CSK	IND	416	84	22	23	134.6	0	-	15	500	4286	38
14	Kagiso Rabada	DC	WI	14	9	0	1	93.3	25	7.8	12	493	145	24
15	Ravindra Jadeja	CSK	IND	106	31	7	4	120.5	15	6.4	16	460	2174	30
16	Shreyas Iyer	DC	IND	463	67	41	14	119.9	0	-	16	459	2179	24
17	Suryakumar Yadav	MI	IND	424	71	45	10	130.9	0	-	16	452	1011	29
18	Parthiv Patel	RCB	IND	373	67	48	10	139.2	0	-	14	445	546	34
19	Shreyas Gopal	RR	IND	63	19	8	1	137	20	7.2	14	442	65	26
20	Rashid Khan	SRH	AFG	34	17	2	2	147.8	17	6.3	15	436	2949	21
21	Ajinkya Rahane	RR	IND	393	105	45	9	137.9	0	-	14	430	1329	31
22	Nitish Rana	KKR	IND	344	85	27	21	146.4	3	9	14	427	1138	25
23	Chris Lynn	KKR	AUS	405	82	41	22	139.7	0	-	13	427	3212	29
24	Rohit Sharma	MI	IND	405	67	52	10	128.6	0	-	15	422	5078	32
25	Shane Watson	CSK	AUS	398	96	42	20	127.6	0	-	17	420	1361	38
26	Faf du Plessis	CSK	SA	396	96	36	15	123.4	0	-	12	420	544	35
27	Jasprit Bumrah	MI	IND	0	0	0	0	0	19	6.6	16	411	2433	25
28	Krunal Pandya	MI	IND	183	42	18	5	122	12	7.3	16	411	3059	28
29	Moeen Ali	RCB	ENG	220	66	16	17	165.4	6	6.8	11	402	604	32
30	Sanju Samson	RR	IND	342	102	28	13	148.7	0	-	12	397	2879	24
31	Deepak Chahar	CSK	IND	7	7	1	0	77.8	22	7.5	17	396	289	27
32	R Ashwin	KXI	IND	42	17	3	3	150	15	7.3	14	391	2777	33
33	Mayank Agarwal	KXI	IND	332	58	26	14	141.9	0	-	13	388	368	28
34	Suresh Raina	CSK	IND	383	59	45	9	122	0	6	17	385	4082	32
35	Jos Buttler	RR	ENG	311	89	38	14	151.7	0	-	8	381	1650	29
36	Prithvi Shaw	DC	IND	353	99	45	9	133.7	0	-	16	378	454	19
37	Kieron Pollard	MI	WI	279	83	14	22	156.7	0	-	16	369	2091	32
38	Manish Pandey	SRH	IND	344	83	34	6	130.8	0	-	12	365	4305	30
39	Sunil Narine	KKR	WI	143	47	17	9	166.3	10	7.8	12	347	5146	31
40	Axar Patel	DC	IND	110	26	10	3	125	10	7.1	14	344	2076	25
41	Jofra Archer	RR	WI	67	27	4	4	167.5	11	6.8	11	338	3043	24
42	Harbhajan Singh	CSK	IND	1	1	0	0	33.3	16	7.1	11	318	898	39
43	Mohammad Nabi	SRH	AFG	115	31	8	7	151.3	8	6.7	8	316	452	34
44	Dinesh Karthik	KKR	IND	253	97	22	14	146.2	0	-	14	311	3399	34
45	Vijay Shankar	SRH	IND	244	40	11	12	126.4	1	8.8	15	305	1499	28
46	Shubman Gill	KKR	IND	296	76	21	10	124.4	0	-	14	303	849	20
47	Yuzvendra Chahal	RCB	IND	6	4	0	0	37.5	18	7.8	14	299	2867	29
48	Khaleel Ahmed	SRH	IND	0	0	0	0	0	19	8.2	9	294	1458	21
49	Mohammed Shami	KXI	IND	1	1	0	0	50	19	8.7	14	294	2332	29
50	Steven Smith	RR	WI	319	73	30	4	116	0	-	12	283	6310	30
51	Rahul Chahar	MI	IND	12	10	2	0	109.1	12	6.6	13	281	966	20
52	Dwayne Bravo	CSK	WI	80	27	6	3	121.2	11	8	12	274	3337	36
53	Robin Uthappa	KKR	IND	282	67	28	10	115.1	0	-	12	261	3503	33
54	Ishant Sharma	DC	IND	10	10	1	1	333.3	13	7.6	13	247	584	31
55	Bhuvneshwar Kumar	SRH	IND	12	7	1	0	63.2	13	7.8	15	242	5018	29
56	Marcus Stoinis	RCB	AUS	211	46	14	10	135.3	2	8.7	10	242	3660	30
57	Sam Curran	KXI	ENG	95	55	13	3	172.7	10	9.8	9	242	4250	21
58	Amit Mishra	DC	IND	21	8	2	0	87.5	11	6.8	11	240	2381	27
59	David Miller	KXI	SA	213	59	19	7	129.9	0	-	10	235	1824	30
60	Nicholas Pooran	KXI	WI	168	48	9	14	157	0	-	7	205	2927	24

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