IPL 2022: Jos MVPI, But Pandyas Shine

The Pandyas continue to be in the thick of things with Hardik Pandya (391) ahead, but Krunal Pandya (300) not too far behind.
Purnendu Maji and Srinivas Bhogle list the 50 Most Valuable Players after the first 38 IPL 2022 games.

This has been an IPL filled with outstanding performances. Consider Jos Buttler.

The highest aggregate (491 runs so far), most centuries (3), highest top score (116), most 4s (41), most 6s (32), and, of course, the highest Most Valuable Player Index of 538. The Aramco Orange Cap is unlikely to leave his head.

Then there's Andre Russell (MVPI: 441) who's scoring runs at an explosive strike rate (180.2), but still unable to take his team to play-off safety, and there's also K L Rahul (392) who is finally finding out how to score runs rapidly in spite of being captain (he says that's because his team is packed with all-rounders).

The Pandyas continue to be in the thick of things with Hardik Pandya (391) ahead, but Krunal Pandya (300) not too far behind. Yuzvendra Chahal (379) looks likely to hold on to his Aramco Purple Cap with 18 wickets at an impressive economy rate of 7.3.

There are other stories. The Australians aren't having a great IPL with only two Aussies: David Warner (234) and Glen Maxwell (194) in the top 50, but that's also because they joined the party late this year.

The New Zealanders too aren't registering their presence with only Lockie Ferguson (189) and Tim Southee (179) sneaking into the top 50. There is, of course, their captain Kane Williamson leading a great SRH revival, but the MVPI doesn't give marks for good captaincy.

Recall that the MVPI collapses a player's batting, bowling and fielding performance into a single 'run equivalent'.

To have the best MVPI value, batters must score a lot of runs with a high strike rate and bowlers must take a lot of wickets with a low economy rate.

Among the top 50, players with a Paisa Vasool Index below 500 -- cost the franchise less than $500 for every 'run' contributed -- include Umesh Yadav (KKR; 487), Tilak Varma (MI; 439), David Miller (GT; 202), Kuldeep Yadav (DC; 490) and Lalit Yadav (DC; 207)

This analysis is based on the first 38 matches of the current IPL, and updated on the morning of April 26, 2022. We have assumed the par score to be 180 and every wicket to be worth 18 'runs'.

Best Performing Players So Far in IPL 2022 (after Match 38 ending 25.4.22)

• IPL 2022

Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com