Russell leads IPL MVP standings; Markande best Paisa Vasool

Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji analyse Week 1 in Rediff.com's Most Valuable Players ratings.

IMAGE: Kolkata Knight Riders batsman Andre Rusell hits out. Photograph: BCCI

It is still early days in IPL 11 -- the T20 league is only eight matches old.

But let's start asking the questions that we have been asking on Rediff.com ever since the IPL came into existence: Who are IPL's most valuable players? Which players offer the best value for money?

We measure a player's performance using the Most Valuable Player Index (MVPI).

To have the best MVPI, players must score a lot of runs at high strike rates, and also take a lot of wickets at low economy rates.

More catches and run outs help even more.

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

So, a MVPI of 150 means that a player's contribution on the cricket field is equivalent to scoring 150 'runs'.

Consider the case of new spin sensation Mayank Markande of the Mumbai Indians.

He has an MVPI of 138 although he has only scored 6 runs with the bat, but his seven wickets at an impressive economy rate of 5.8 make his performance at par with a batsman scoring 138 runs.

Currently, Andre Russell of the Kolkata Knight Riders is the most valuable player with an MVPI of 150.

K L Rahul, who has been batting in scintillating fashion, is second with an MVPI of 147.

Andre's KKR team-mate Sunil Narine -- who is enjoying his time as an opener and also taken two wickets with an economy rate of 5.9 == is third on the MVPI list.

Table 1: Best performing players so far, IPL-11

Rank	Player's Name	Team	From	Run	Top Score	4s	6s	Strike Rate	Wickets	Economy Rate	Matches	MVPI
1	Andre Russell	KKR	WI	103	88	3	12	219.1	0	7.5	2	150
2	K L Rahul	KXI	IND	98	51	8	8	213	0	-	2	147
3	Sunil Narine	KKR	WI	62	50	4	7	269.6	2	5.9	2	142
4	Mayank Markande	MI	IND	6	6	1	0	200	7	5.8	2	138
5	Shikhar Dhawan	SRH	IND	123	78	21	1	144.7	0	-	2	137
6	Shane Watson	CSK	AUS	58	42	4	4	175.8	4	8.5	2	132
7	A B de Villiers	RCB	SA	101	57	3	9	160.3	0	-	2	126
8	R Ashwin	KXI	IND	33	33	3	1	157.1	3	6.6	2	97
9	Dwayne Bravo	CSK	WI	79	68	3	8	225.7	0	10.7	2	96
10	Umesh Yadav	RCB	IND	0	0	0	0	-	5	6.3	2	94
11	Sanju Samson	RR	IND	86	49	7	2	134.4	0	-	2	87
12	Karun Nair	KXI	IND	79	50	8	2	133.9	0	-	2	87
13	Krunal Pandya	MI	IND	56	41	7	2	175	0	5	2	83
14	Sam Billings	CSK	ENG	56	56	2	5	243.5	0	-	1	81
15	Siddarth Kaul	SRH	IND	0	0	0	0	0	4	5.8	2	77
16	Nitish Rana	KKR	IND	50	34	4	2	128.2	2	11	2	77
17	Hardik Pandya	MI	IND	22	22	2	0	110	3	6	1	73
18	Mustafizur Rahman	MI	BAN	0	0	0	0	-	4	8	2	72
19	Mujeeb Ur Rahman	KXI	AFG	0	0	0	0	0	3	7.1	2	72
20	Mandeep Singh	RCB	IND	59	37	5	2	159.5	0	-	2	69
21	Chris Woakes	RCB	ENG	6	5	1	0	85.7	5	9.8	2	69
22	Rashid Khan	SRH	AFG	0	0	0	0	0	2	4.5	2	67
23	Shakib Al Hasan	SRH	BAN	12	12	1	0	100	3	7.1	2	67
24	Suryakumar Yadav	MI	IND	71	43	8	2	118.3	0	-	2	66
25	Chris Morris	DD	SA	44	27	3	2	191.3	1	9.8	2	66
26	Ambati Rayudu	CSK	IND	61	39	7	2	135.6	0	-	2	66
27	Rishabh Pant	DD	IND	48	28	7	1	177.8	0	-	2	64
28	Quinton de Kock	RCB	SA	49	45	8	1	128.9	0	-	2	63
29	Ishan Kishan	MI	IND	49	40	6	1	128.9	0	-	2	59
30	Dinesh Karthik	KKR	IND	61	35	6	1	113	0	-	2	58
31	Kane Williamson	SRH	NZ	42	36	4	1	107.7	0	-	2	56
32	Washington Sundar	RCB	IND	9	9	2	0	225	3	8.8	2	55
33	Gautam Gambhir	DD	IND	55	55	5	1	131	0	-	2	54
34	Brendon McCullum	RCB	NZ	43	43	6	2	153.6	0	-	2	53
35	Jasprit Bumrah	MI	IND	4	4	0	0	80	3	8.6	2	52
36	Robin Uthappa	KKR	IND	42	29	2	4	150	0	-	2	51
37	Billy Stanlake	SRH	AUS	5	5	1	0	250	3	8.9	2	48
38	Jos Buttler	RR	ENG	35	29	2	2	129.6	0	-	2	46
39	Ajinkya Rahane	RR	IND	58	45	7	0	109.4	0	-	2	45
40	Virat Kohli	RCB	IND	52	31	5	1	106.1	0	-	2	43
41	Evin Lewis	MI	WI	29	29	3	2	152.6	0	-	2	37
42	Sandeep Sharma	SRH	IND	0	0	0	0	0	2	6.3	1	36
43	Rahul Tewatia	DD	IND	9	9	1	0	128.6	1	6.6	2	36
44	Harbhajan Singh	CSK	IND	8	8	1	0	160	1	6.3	2	36
45	Deepak Hooda	SRH	IND	32	32	1	1	128	0	-	2	35
46	Marcus Stoinis	KXI	AUS	33	22	2	1	137.5	0	7	2	35
47	Wriddhiman Saha	SRH	IND	27	22	4	0	108	0	-	2	33
48	Axar Patel	KXI	IND	2	2	0	0	66.7	2	8.6	2	32
49	Suresh Raina	CSK	IND	18	14	0	1	100	0	-	2	32
50	Vijay Shankar	DD	IND	16	13	0	0	100	0	-	2	31

There is another interesting metric to measure player performance, especially in a tournament like the IPL where players are actually bought.

How much bang does each player give for the bucks he receives?

We measure player value using the playe's Paisa Vasool Index (PVI).

To compute a player's PVI we compute his total earnings (in Rs or US$) so far and divide it by the 'runs' he has contributed so far.

IMAGE: Mayank Markande celebrates picking up a wicket for Mumbai Indians. Photograph: BCCI

If we look at Markande again, he was bought by Mumbai for a low amount of Rs 20 lakhs (or U$31,000) to be available for at least 14 matches.

He has been available for two out of these 14 matches so far, and so earned 2/14th (Rs 2.86 lakhs, or $4429) of his Rs 20 lakhs ($31,000).

In return he has contributed 138 'runs'.

So, for every 'run' MI get from Markande they pay him Rs 2.86 lakhs (or $4,429) divided by 138 = Rs 2,070 (or $32).

Currently, Markande is proving the best value for money in IPL-11.

Just to get a better feel for these numbers, Shikhar Dhawan of the Sunrisers Hyderabad, with his MVPI of 137, has a PVI of Rs 54,223 (or $847).

So, while Markande and Dhawan have performed practically at par, Dhawan is paid approximately 26 times more than Markande.

The PVI for the best performing players so far is shown below in Table 2.

Table 2: Players offering the best value for money so far, IPL-11

Player's Name	Team	From	Money Offered (INR)	Money Offered (US $)	PVI(INR)	PVI(US$)	Age	Type	MVPI
Mayank Markande	MI	IND	2,00,0000	31,000	2,070	32	20	Bowl	138
Billy Stanlake	SRH	AUS	5,000,000	78,000	14,881	232	23	Bowl	48
Sam Billings	CSK	ENG	1,000,0000	156,000	17,637	275	27	WK	81
Mandeep Singh	RCB	IND	14,000,000	218,000	28,986	451	26	BAT	69
Shakib Al Hasan	SRH	BAN	20,000,000	31,2000	42,644	665	31	AR	67
Shane Watson	CSK	AUS	40,000,000	625,000	43,290	676	37	AR	132
Mustafizur Rahman	MI	BAN	22,000,000	343,000	43,651	681	23	Bowl	72
Ambati Rayudu	CSK	IND	22,000,000	343,000	47,619	742	33	BAT	66
Shikhar Dhawan	SRH	IND	52,000,000	812,000	54,223	847	32	BAT	137
Nitish Rana	KKR	IND	34,000,000	531,000	63080	985	24	BAT	77
Quinton de Kock	RCB	SA	28,000,000	437,000	63,492	991	25	WK	63
Umesh Yadav	RCB	IND	42,000,000	656,000	63,830	997	30	Bowl	94
Suryakumar Yadav	MI	IND	32,000,000	500,000	69,264	1,082	28	BAT	66
Siddarth Kaul	SRH	IND	38,000,000	593,000	70,501	1,100	28	Bowl	77
Gautam Gambhir	DD	IND	28,000,000	437,000	74,074	1,156	37	BAT	54
Kane Williamson	SRH	NZ	30,00,0000	468,000	76,531	1,194	28	BAT	56
Harbhajan Singh	CSK	IND	20,000,000	312,000	79,365	1,238	38	Bowl	36
Mujeeb Ur Rahman	KXI	AFG	40,000,000	625,000	79,365	1,240	17	Bowl	72
Andre Russell	KKR	WI	85,000,000	1,328,000	80,952	1,265	30	AR	150
Washington Sundar	RCB	IND	32,000,000	500,000	83,117	1,299	19	AR	55
Karun Nair	KXI	IND	56,000,000	875,000	91,954	1,437	26	BAT	87
Dwayne Bravo	CSK	WI	64,000,000	1,000,000	95,238	1,488	35	AR	96
Brendon McCullum	RCB	NZ	36,000,000	562,000	97,035	1,515	37	BAT	53
KL Rahul	KXI	IND	11,000,0000	1,718,000	106,900	1670	26	BAT	147
R Ashwin	KXI	IND	76,000,000	1,187,000	111,929	1,748	32	AR	97
Sandeep Sharma	SRH	IND	30,000,000	468,000	119,048	1,857	25	Bowl	36
Rahul Tewatia	DD	IND	30,000,000	468,000	119,048	1,857	25	AR	36
A B de Villiers	RCB	SA	11,000,0000	1,718,000	124,717	1,948	34	BAT	126
Sunil Narine	KKR	WI	12,500,0000	1,953,000	125,755	1,965	30	Bowl	142
Ajinkya Rahane	RR	IND	40,000,000	625,000	126,984	1,984	30	BAT	45
Sanju Samson	RR	IND	80,000,000	1,250,000	131,363	2,053	23	WK	87
Jos Buttler	RR	ENG	44,000,000	687,000	136,646	2,134	28	WK	46
Evin Lewis	MI	WI	38,000,000	593,000	146,718	2,290	26	BAT	37
Deepak Hooda	SRH	IND	36,000,000	562,000	146,939	2,294	23	BAT	35
Vijay Shankar	DD	IND	32,000,000	500,000	147,465	2,304	27	AR	31
Ishan Kishan	MI	IND	62,000,000	968,000	150,121	2,344	20	WK	59
Krunal Pandya	MI	IND	88,000,000	1,375,000	151,463	2,367	27	AR	83
Chris Woakes	RCB	ENG	74,000,000	1,156,000	153,209	2,393	29	AR	69
Robin Uthappa	KKR	IND	64,000,000	1,000,000	179,272	2,801	32	WK	51
Dinesh Karthik	KKR	IND	74,000,000	1,156,000	182,266	2,847	33	WK	58
Rashid Khan	SRH	AFG	90,000,000	1,406,000	191,898	2,998	20	Bowl	67
Jasprit Bumrah	MI	IND	70,000,000	1,093,000	192,308	3,003	24	Bowl	52
Hardik Pandya	MI	IND	11,000,0000	1,718,000	215,264	3,362	25	AR	73
Wriddhiman Saha	SRH	IND	50,000,000	781,000	216,450	3,381	33	WK	33
Chris Morris	DD	SA	11,000,0000	1,718,000	238,095	3,719	31	AR	66
Marcus Stoinis	KXI	AUS	62,000,000	968,000	253,061	3,951	29	AR	35
Rishabh Pant	DD	IND	15,000,0000	2,343,000	334,821	5,230	21	WK	64
Suresh Raina	CSK	IND	11,000,0000	171,8000	49,1071	7,670	31	BAT	32
Axar Patel	KXI	IND	12,500,0000	195,3000	55,8036	8,719	24	AR	32
Virat Kohli	RCB	IND	17,000,0000	2,656,000	564,784	8,824	29	BAT	43

The data has been updated after the 8th match of IPL-11 between the Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kings XI Punjab on April 13, 2018.

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