More paisa vasool this year, or less?

Sanath Jayasuriya? He was much better last year, even though he hasn't batted too badly this year.

Jacques Kallis? He's certainly looking better this year, perhaps because he's playing at home.

Rohit Sharma? He's been just as good this year. That finish against Kolkata Knight Riders was brilliant, and he's taking wickets too after that hat-trick!

Shane Warne? He'll be a winner as long as he plays!

It's interesting to compare IPL performances in 2008 and 2009, and Rediff.com's paisa vasool index allows us to make objective comparisons.

Recall that the paisa vasool index (PVI) is the amount of money a player receives in US$ for every 'run' scored (a player's batting, bowling and fielding performance is collapsed in this single 'run' variable).

Tables A, B and C respectively list the names of players who've improved their showing in 2009, declined in 2009, or maintained parity between their 2008 and 2009 performances.
Table A: Improved in 2009 (PVI has reduced significantly)

Sachin Tendulkar is fit this year, and that's showing in the way he is batting. A B de Villiers, Jacques Kallis and Herschelle Gibbs are playing better on home grounds.

Anil Kumble, R P Singh and Ashish Nehra are fresh, and enjoying bowling on more favourable bowling surfaces, and Daniel Vettori and Mahela Jayawardene are showing how two intelligent cricketers can always improvise if they get a sufficiently long run in the middle.

Table B: Declined in 2009 (PVI has increased significantly)

Given the disarray in the team it's not a surprise that Sourav Ganguly and Brendon McCullum are not getting anywhere. Rahul Dravid started very well, but hasn't got enough opportunities after his break.

Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir seem to have momentarily lost it; but their team is comfortable and if this portends a strong return of the duo in the Twenty20 World Cup that may not be such a bad thing.

Sanath Jayasuriya seems confused about his place in the batting order, and isn't getting enough opportunities to bowl in favourable conditions.  Dhawal Kulkarni, Manpreet Gony and Ashok Dinda are either struggling to bowl on South African pitches, or just not good enough.

Table C: No big change (PVI is about the same in 2008 and 2009)

This table is actually a good list of players who are either well-suited for (or have mastered the skill of playing) T20 cricket, although Simon Katich looks to be the odd man out.

And the three outstanding Australian cricketers on that list show that if you have that sort of discipline, grit and magic you can play all three versions of cricket with equal felicity and success.

Srinivas Bhogle now works for TEOCO Software Pvt Ltd. This note is based on the detailed IPL1 analysis carried out by Purnendu Maji in 2008. The paisa vasool index uses a model developed by M J Manohar Rao and Rajeeva L Karandikar