Abhishek Sharma continues to lead the IPL 2026 MVPI table, highlighting a worrying trend where batters overwhelmingly dominate the top positions and only one bowler features in the top 20.
Purnendu Maji and Srinivas Bhogle present Rediff's Most Valuable Player Index of IPL 2026 after Game 54.
Key Points
- Abhishek Sharma maintains his lead in the IPL 2026 MVPI table with 636 points, closely followed by Vaibhav Sooryavanshi at 600.
- The top 20 MVPI list is heavily dominated by batters, with Bhuvaneshwar Kumar being the only bowler, ranked 10th with an MVPI of 478.
- A significant trend shows 18 out of the top 20 players have not taken a single wicket, indicating a shift towards batting-centric T20 cricket.
Even after a gap of 16 matches, the MVPI table of the 2026 IPL looks practically the same.
Batters continue to rule: Abhishek Sharma (MVPI of 636) continues to top the table, and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (600) continues to follow him closely.
At the moment, Abhishek must be considered the favourite because his team, Sunrisers Hyderabad, is much more likely to make the play-offs, while Sooryavanshi's Rajasthan Royala is more in the danger zone.
Batters Dominate MVPI Rankings
The top 20 MVPI list contains only one bowler: Bhuvaneshwar Kumar is #10 with a MVPI of 478.
It makes you wonder: Is MVPI a valid metric? It is, but we fear that IPL is evolving into a different kind of T20 animal.
Look down the wickets column in the MVPI table: 18 out of the top 20 players haven't taken a single wicket!
The Evolving Nature of T20 Cricket
This is a worrying trend for T20 cricket, especially because most leagues probably will want to go the IPL way.
For now, let us celebrate the remarkable genius of Bhuvaneshwar Kumar.
He could be discovering that optimal bowling algorithm that T20 desperately needs.
The optimal batting algorithm, meanwhile is there for everyone to see and relish: Open the batting, never let your strike rate ('blitzkrieg rate'?) fall below 200, and, if possible, bat left-handed.
Understanding PVI and Future Updates
The PVI (last column in the table) identifies players in the top 50 that offer the best value for every US dollar they receive.
MVPI rewards batters who score a lot of runs very quickly, bowlers take a lot of wickets with a good economy rate, and players who participate in the most run out dismissals or take the most catches.
Top 50 Performing Players In IPL 2026 (after Match 54 ending 11.5.26)
| Rank | Player's Name | Team | From | Runs | Strike Rate | Wickets | Economy Rate | Games | MVPI | PVI(US$) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Abhishek Sharma | SRH | IND | 475 | 210.2 | 0 | 10.1 | 11 | 636 | 1860 |
| 2 | Vaibhav Sooryavanshi | RR | IND | 440 | 235.3 | 0 | - | 10 | 600 | 155 |
| 3 | Heinrich Klaasen | SRH | SA | 494 | 157.3 | 0 | - | 11 | 577 | 3368 |
| 4 | K L Rahul | DC | IND | 468 | 180 | 0 | - | 11 | 573 | 2064 |
| 5 | Shubman Gill | GT | IND | 462 | 160.4 | 0 | - | 10 | 558 | 2498 |
| 6 | Ishan Kishan | SRH | IND | 409 | 186.8 | 0 | - | 11 | 550 | 1728 |
| 7 | Sanju Samson | CSK | IND | 430 | 169.3 | 0 | - | 11 | 518 | 2936 |
| 8 | Ryan Rickelton | MI | SA | 382 | 190 | 0 | - | 9 | 505 | 167 |
| 9 | Sai Sudharsan | GT | IND | 440 | 157.7 | 0 | - | 11 | 498 | 1442 |
| 10 | Bhuvneshwar Kumar | RCB | IND | 34 | 130.8 | 21 | 7.5 | 11 | 478 | 1900 |
| 11 | Jos Buttler | GT | ENG | 348 | 152 | 0 | - | 11 | 470 | 2831 |
| 12 | Cooper Connolly | PBKS | AUS | 377 | 171.4 | 0 | - | 10 | 448 | 514 |
| 13 | Virat Kohli | RCB | IND | 379 | 163.4 | 0 | - | 11 | 446 | 3978 |
| 14 | Rajat Patidar | RCB | IND | 326 | 195.2 | 0 | - | 11 | 444 | 2093 |
| 15 | Dhruv Jurel | RR | IND | 314 | 155.4 | 0 | - | 11 | 442 | 2676 |
| 16 | Prabhsimran Singh | PBKS | IND | 364 | 172.5 | 0 | - | 10 | 439 | 700 |
| 17 | Devdutt Padikkal | RCB | IND | 328 | 176.3 | 0 | - | 11 | 437 | 387 |
| 18 | Travis Head | SRH | AUS | 361 | 174.4 | 0 | - | 11 | 412 | 2871 |
| 19 | Jamie Overton | CSK | ENG | 136 | 158.1 | 14 | 8.9 | 10 | 404 | 3137 |
| 20 | Shreyas Iyer | PBKS | IND | 333 | 164 | 0 | - | 10 | 398 | 5162 |
| 21 | Mitchell Marsh | LSG | AUS | 377 | 150.8 | 0 | - | 11 | 397 | 724 |
| 22 | Priyansh Arya | PBKS | IND | 286 | 242.4 | 0 | - | 10 | 395 | 739 |
| 23 | Anshul Kamboj | CSK | IND | 39 | 130 | 19 | 9.2 | 11 | 388 | 7403 |
| 24 | Nitish Kumar Reddy | SRH | IND | 222 | 166.9 | 7 | 10.4 | 10 | 387 | 1310 |
| 25 | Ravindra Jadeja | RR | AUS | 190 | 133.8 | 8 | 7.8 | 11 | 356 | 3322 |
| 26 | Kagiso Rabada | GT | SA | 35 | 116.7 | 18 | 9.4 | 11 | 352 | 2580 |
| 27 | Yashasvi Jaiswal | RR | IND | 315 | 157.5 | 0 | - | 11 | 348 | 4370 |
| 28 | Naman Dhir | MI | IND | 303 | 150 | 0 | - | 11 | 345 | 1286 |
| 29 | Rashid Khan | GT | AFG | 35 | 120.7 | 15 | 8.3 | 11 | 345 | 4408 |
| 30 | Prince Yadav | LSG | IND | 0 | 0 | 16 | 8.2 | 11 | 345 | 73 |
| 31 | Krunal Pandya | RCB | IND | 141 | 150 | 10 | 8.7 | 11 | 343 | 1416 |
| 32 | Donovan Ferreira | RR | SA | 233 | 177.9 | 1 | 12.5 | 10 | 329 | 257 |
| 33 | Pathum Nissanka | DC | SL | 288 | 164.6 | 0 | - | 10 | 326 | 1037 |
| 34 | Tilak Varma | MI | IND | 261 | 150 | 0 | - | 11 | 321 | 2106 |
| 35 | Jofra Archer | RR | ENG | 19 | 90.5 | 15 | 9.1 | 11 | 320 | 3300 |
| 36 | Sunil Narine | KKR | WI | 40 | 125 | 10 | 6.5 | 9 | 317 | 2907 |
| 37 | Eshan Malinga | SRH | SA | 2 | 33.3 | 16 | 9.4 | 11 | 311 | 326 |
| 38 | Cameron Green | KKR | AUS | 232 | 146.8 | 4 | 11.9 | 10 | 306 | 6325 |
| 39 | Rishabh Pant | LSG | IND | 251 | 138.7 | 0 | - | 11 | 303 | 7528 |
| 40 | Washington Sundar | GT | IND | 246 | 152.8 | 1 | 8.5 | 11 | 302 | 895 |
| 41 | Jason Holder | GT | WI | 47 | 138.2 | 10 | 6.7 | 5 | 302 | 1958 |
| 42 | Ruturaj Gaikwad | CSK | IND | 293 | 124.2 | 0 | - | 11 | 289 | 5262 |
| 43 | Tim David | RCB | AUS | 232 | 196.6 | 0 | 18 | 11 | 284 | 892 |
| 44 | Rinku Singh | KKR | IND | 237 | 145.4 | 0 | - | 10 | 284 | 3516 |
| 45 | Rohit Sharma | MI | IND | 243 | 177.4 | 0 | - | 6 | 281 | 4901 |
| 46 | Angkrish Raghuvanshi | KKR | IND | 269 | 135.9 | 0 | - | 10 | 274 | 841 |
| 47 | Kartik Tyagi | KKR | IND | 11 | 122.2 | 13 | 9 | 10 | 270 | 85 |
| 48 | Finn Allen | KKR | NZ | 210 | 205.9 | 0 | - | 7 | 267 | 575 |
| 49 | Noor Ahmad | CSK | AFG | 10 | 55.6 | 12 | 8.2 | 11 | 267 | 3164 |
| 50 | Sameer Rizvi | DC | IND | 252 | 147.4 | 0 | - | 11 | 266 | 302 |
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.
Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff
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