Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji are back with Rediff.com's Most Valuable Players ratings for the ongoing ICC World Cup.
The 2015 ICC World Cup is just over a week old, but already we have witnessed some outstanding performances and also a few shocking failures.
New Zealand pacer Tim Southee, who claimed a career-best 7-33 against England, is currently this World Cup's most valuable player (MVP) with a most valuable player index (MVPI) of 299.
In fact, New Zealand hold four of the top five places on the table right now and that is also partly because they have played three matches so far.
The co-hosts have been in red hot form in the tournament with a hat-trick of victories against Sri Lanka, Scotland and England respectively to sit on top of Pool A with an amazing net run rate of +3.58.
Opener Shikhar Dhawan, who hit a fifty against Pakistan followed by a match-winning century against South Africa (Rank 4; MVPI 245) is India's MVP followed by pace bowler Mohammed Shami (9; 182), who finally seems to have regained his form in Australia.
Pakistan have so far struggled to get going in the tournament, losing its first two games to India and the West Indies. Their best ranked player in the table is Sohail Khan (25; 123), followed by captain Misbah-ul-Haq (30; 114).
MVPI collapses a player's batting + bowling + fielding performance into a single 'run equivalent.'
Although Southee hasn't scored a single run so far, MVPI judges his contribution so far to be equivalent to a batsman having scored 299 'runs'.
The 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.
It does not award any points for good captaincy, or for good wicket-keeping (although wicket-keepers do gain an advantage because they participate in many more dismissals).
Table: Most valuable players at the 2015 World Cup (after 13 matches, as on midnight of February 22, 2015):
Rank | Player | Team | Runs | 4s | 6s | Strike Rate | W | Eco | Ct St | Run Outs | M | MVPI |
1 | Tim Southee | NZ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 11 | 4.1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 299 |
2 | Corey Anderson | NZ | 86 | 9 | 2 | 138.7 | 5 | 4.3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 252 |
3 | Brendon McCullum | NZ | 157 | 21 | 8 | 182.6 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 247 |
4 | Shikhar Dhawan | IND | 210 | 23 | 3 | 94.6 | 0 | 0.0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 245 |
5 | Daniel Vettori | NZ | 8 | 1 | 0 | 200.0 | 6 | 3.0 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 232 |
6 | David Miller | SA | 160 | 9 | 9 | 139.1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 224 |
7 | Andre Russell | WI | 69 | 6 | 5 | 265.4 | 3 | 4.7 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 200 |
8 | Lendl Simmons | WI | 152 | 13 | 7 | 116.9 | 0 | 12.0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 194 |
9 | Mohammed Shami | IND | 7 | 1 | 0 | 87.5 | 6 | 3.8 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 182 |
10 | Aaron Finch | AUS | 135 | 12 | 3 | 105.5 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 168 |
11 | Jean-Paul Duminy | SA | 121 | 9 | 3 | 105.2 | 1 | 5.6 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 167 |
12 | Darren Sammy | WI | 119 | 12 | 5 | 125.3 | 1 | 6.5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 167 |
13 | Mitchell Marsh | AUS | 23 | 3 | 0 | 115.0 | 5 | 3.7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 166 |
14 | Virat Kohli | IND | 153 | 11 | 0 | 82.3 | 0 | 0.0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 161 |
15 | Sean Williams | ZIM | 84 | 8 | 1 | 107.7 | 2 | 5.4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 151 |
16 | Angelo Mathews | SL | 90 | 7 | 0 | 67.7 | 3 | 5.3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 145 |
17 | Jerome Taylor | WI | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 6 | 5.4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 143 |
18 | AB de Villiers | SA | 55 | 4 | 1 | 74.3 | 0 | 0.0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 138 |
19 | Trent Boult | NZ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 5 | 4.5 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 138 |
20 | Shakib Al Hasan | BAN | 63 | 6 | 1 | 123.5 | 2 | 4.9 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 135 |
21 | Mohit Sharma | IND | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 4 | 4.1 | 0 | 0.5 | 2 | 127 |
22 | Mashrafe Mortaza | BAN | 14 | 3 | 0 | 155.6 | 3 | 2.2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 126 |
23 | Suresh Raina | IND | 80 | 6 | 3 | 131.1 | 0 | 4.5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 125 |
24 | Imran Tahir | SA | 8 | 1 | 0 | 80.0 | 4 | 4.2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 124 |
25 | Sohail Khan | PAK | 8 | 1 | 0 | 44.4 | 6 | 6.4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 123 |
26 | Mushfiqur Rahim | BAN | 71 | 6 | 1 | 126.8 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 120 |
27 | James Taylor | ENG | 98 | 11 | 2 | 106.5 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 119 |
28 | Brendan Taylor | ZIM | 87 | 9 | 2 | 103.6 | 0 | 0.0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 119 |
29 | R Ashwin | IND | 6 | 0 | 0 | 100.0 | 4 | 4.6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 115 |
30 | Misbah-ul-Haq | PAK | 83 | 10 | 1 | 79.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 114 |
31 | Ed Joyce | IRL | 84 | 10 | 2 | 125.4 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 112 |
32 | Ajinkya Rahane | IND | 79 | 7 | 3 | 129.5 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 112 |
33 | Suranga Lakmal | SL | 7 | 0 | 0 | 41.2 | 4 | 4.9 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 112 |
34 | Paul Stirling | IRL | 92 | 9 | 3 | 109.5 | 0 | 5.5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 111 |
35 | Glenn Maxwell | AUS | 66 | 11 | 0 | 165.0 | 0 | 8.3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 111 |
36 | Mirwais Ashraf | AFG | 38 | 1 | 3 | 80.9 | 2 | 3.7 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 110 |
37 | Hamid Hassan | AFG | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 5 | 5.6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 109 |
38 | Niall O'Brien | IRL | 79 | 11 | 0 | 131.7 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 108 |
39 | Mohammad Nabi | AFG | 65 | 7 | 1 | 92.9 | 1 | 6.0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 107 |
40 | Chris Woakes | ENG | 38 | 2 | 0 | 86.4 | 3 | 5.6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 106 |
41 | Kane Williamson | NZ | 104 | 12 | 1 | 78.8 | 0 | 7.0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 101 |
42 | Thisara Perera | SL | 47 | 6 | 1 | 180.8 | 1 | 5.4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 98 |
43 | M Jayawardene | SL | 100 | 8 | 1 | 80.6 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 97 |
44 | Shapoor Zadran | AFG | 3 | 0 | 0 | 100.0 | 3 | 4.0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 96 |
45 | Martin Guptill | NZ | 88 | 12 | 0 | 89.8 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 94 |
46 | H Masakadza | ZIM | 81 | 8 | 2 | 103.8 | 0 | 7.5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 92 |
47 | Shaiman Anwar | UAE | 67 | 9 | 1 | 134.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 92 |
48 | MS Dhoni | IND | 36 | 4 | 1 | 150.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 92 |
49 | Tendai Chatara | ZIM | 6 | 1 | 0 | 54.5 | 4 | 5.7 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 90 |
50 | Lahiru Thirimanne | SL | 65 | 8 | 0 | 106.6 | 0 | 0.0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 89 |
51 | Morne Morkel | SA | 2 | 0 | 0 | 40.0 | 4 | 5.9 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 89 |
52 | Denesh Ramdin | WI | 52 | 7 | 0 | 106.1 | 0 | 0.0 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 88 |
53 | Luke Ronchi | NZ | 41 | 6 | 0 | 141.4 | 0 | 0.0 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 88 |
54 | Adam Milne | NZ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 33.3 | 3 | 5.1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 88 |
55 | Rangana Herath | SL | 13 | 2 | 0 | 68.4 | 2 | 4.1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 87 |
56 | George Dockrell | IRL | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 3 | 5.0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 85 |
57 | Umar Akmal | PAK | 59 | 5 | 1 | 78.7 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 81 |
58 | Craig Ervine | ZIM | 55 | 2 | 3 | 103.8 | 0 | 0.0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 81 |
59 | Jeevan Mendis | SL | 13 | 1 | 0 | 61.9 | 2 | 3.6 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 81 |
60 | Faf du Plessis | SA | 79 | 5 | 1 | 76.7 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 77 |
61 | Josh Davey | SCOT | 11 | 1 | 0 | 57.9 | 3 | 5.7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 76 |
62 | Iain Wardlaw | SCOT | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 3 | 5.8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 71 |
63 | Grant Elliott | NZ | 58 | 7 | 0 | 89.2 | 0 | 5.5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 70 |
64 | Dwayne Smith | WI | 41 | 7 | 0 | 80.4 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 70 |
65 | Umesh Yadav | IND | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 2 | 5.3 | 2 | 0.5 | 2 | 69 |
66 | Haris Sohail | PAK | 36 | 3 | 0 | 66.7 | 2 | 6.8 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 64 |
67 | Vernon Philander | SA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 2 | 4.1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 64 |
68 | Marlon Samuels | WI | 59 | 5 | 1 | 63.4 | 1 | 6.3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 61 |
69 | Sulieman Benn | WI | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 2 | 4.3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 61 |
70 | Chamu Chibhabha | ZIM | 64 | 10 | 0 | 78.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 60 |
71 | Kumar Sangakkara | SL | 46 | 6 | 0 | 90.2 | 0 | 0.0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 60 |
72 | Brad Haddin | AUS | 31 | 5 | 0 | 221.4 | 0 | 0.0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 60 |
73 | George Bailey | AUS | 55 | 3 | 0 | 79.7 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 58 |
74 | Aftab Alam | AFG | 14 | 2 | 1 | 116.7 | 2 | 6.1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 58 |
75 | Mitchell Johnson | AUS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 2 | 4.5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 58 |
76 | Shahid Afridi | PAK | 50 | 5 | 1 | 104.2 | 0 | 5.4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 57 |
77 | Ravindra Jadeja | IND | 5 | 0 | 0 | 55.6 | 2 | 5.1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 56 |
78 | Asghar Stanikzai | AFG | 55 | 5 | 1 | 85.9 | 0 | 7.2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 55 |
79 | Sikandar Raza | ZIM | 51 | 7 | 1 | 89.5 | 0 | 5.0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 55 |
80 | Soumya Sarkar | BAN | 28 | 3 | 1 | 112.0 | 0 | 4.3 | 1 | 0.5 | 1 | 55 |
81 | Amjad Javed | UAE | 25 | 3 | 1 | 131.6 | 1 | 5.4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 55 |
82 | Steven Finn | ENG | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7.1 | 5 | 10.0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 55 |
83 | Solomon Mire | ZIM | 36 | 3 | 2 | 76.6 | 2 | 7.1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 53 |
84 | Mitchell Starc | AUS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 2 | 5.2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 53 |
85 | Andy McBrine | IRL | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 2.6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 49 |
86 | Chris Gayle | WI | 40 | 3 | 1 | 50.6 | 1 | 5.1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 48 |
87 | Lasith Malinga | SL | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 3 | 6.4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 48 |
88 | Mahmudullah | BAN | 23 | 0 | 0 | 50.0 | 1 | 3.9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 47 |
89 | Mohd Naveed | UAE | 23 | 1 | 2 | 135.3 | 1 | 6.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 47 |
90 | Samiullh Shenwari | AFG | 80 | 7 | 0 | 55.2 | 0 | 4.7 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 46 |
91 | Matt Machan | SCOT | 56 | 7 | 1 | 70.9 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 46 |
92 | Khurram Khan | UAE | 45 | 6 | 0 | 81.8 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 44 |
93 | Afsar Zazai | AFG | 20 | 1 | 0 | 46.5 | 0 | 0.0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 44 |
94 | Mohammad Tauqir | UAE | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 2 | 5.7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 44 |
95 | Darren Bravo | WI | 49 | 3 | 0 | 62.8 | 0 | 0.0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 43 |
96 | Jason Holder | WI | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 4.2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 43 |
97 | Wahab Riaz | PAK | 7 | 1 | 0 | 46.7 | 2 | 5.8 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 41 |
98 | Sohaib Maqsood | PAK | 50 | 4 | 1 | 73.5 | 0 | 8.0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 40 |
99 | Elton Chigumbura | ZIM | 22 | 2 | 1 | 100.0 | 1 | 8.4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 39 |
100 | Joe Root | ENG | 51 | 3 | 0 | 62.2 | 0 | 11.0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 38 |
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.
We will publish the MVP tables throughout the World Cup. It would be interesting to speculate who might be this World Cup's most valuable player.
In 2011, it was Sri Lankan opener Tillakaratne Dilshan, with Pakistan's Shahid Afridi and India left-hander Yuvraj Singh just behind him.
In 2007 it was Australia's dashing opener Matthew Hayden followed by New Zealand all-rounder Scott Styris and Sri Lanka's dangerous opener Sanath Jayasuriya.
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