Adam Gilchrist is IPL 2009's most valuable player. If his batting, bowling and fielding performance is expressed only in terms of 'runs', he is seen to have scored a staggering 753 runs. And we haven't taken into account his phenomenal captaincy skills!
The table below ranks the 100 most valuable players of the second season of the Indian Premier League.
To obtain a high rank, players are usually required to show exceptional all-round skills; single skill players rarely make it to the top.
Gilchrist hit the top because of superlative batting and wicket-keeping. His batting performance was worth 583 'runs' (he actually scored 495 runs, but his strike rate of 152 earned him 88 bonus 'runs'), while his fielding performance (as a wicketkeeper) fetched him the remaining 170 'runs'.
Matthew Hayden and AB de Villiers have made it to the top five in spite of being single skill (batting) players because they scored more than 500 runs at a very good strike. Anil Kumble is the only other single skill (bowling) player in the top ten because he took a lot of wickets at an economy rate of just 5.9.
We see more batsmen in top lists than bowlers because good batting has been a little harder in the second IPL than good bowling.
| Rank | Player | Team | From | Runs | Strike Rate | W | Eco | M | MVPI | Money ($) | PVI | Value | Age |
| 1 | Adam Gilchrist | DC | AUS | 495 | 152.3 | 0 | -- | 16 | 753 | 700000 | 956 | O | 37 |
| 2 | M Hayden | CSK | AUS | 572 | 144.8 | 0 | -- | 12 | 678 | 375000 | 537 | O | 37 |
| 3 | Suresh Raina | CSK | IND | 434 | 140.9 | 7 | 5.9 | 14 | 667 | 650000 | 975 | O | 22 |
| 4 | AB de Villiers | DD | SA | 512 | 130.6 | 0 | -- | 15 | 609 | 300000 | 500 | O | 25 |
| 5 | Rohit Sharma | DC | IND | 326 | 115.2 | 11 | 7.0 | 16 | 510 | 750000 | 1513 | VG | 22 |
| 6 | Brad Hodge | KKR | AUS | 365 | 117.7 | 7 | 8.1 | 12 | 467 | 100000 | 208 | O | 34 |
| 7 | Irfan Pathan | KXI | IND | 196 | 124.1 | 17 | 7.7 | 14 | 453 | 925000 | 2042 | G | 24 |
| 8 | J-P Duminy | MI | SA | 372 | 114.5 | 4 | 5.8 | 13 | 450 | 950000 | 2083 | G | 25 |
| 9 | Yuvraj Singh | KXI | IND | 340 | 115.3 | 6 | 7.1 | 14 | 444 | 1063750 | 2394 | G | 27 |
| 10 | Anil Kumble | BRC | IND | 16 | 84.2 | 21 | 5.9 | 16 | 436 | 500000 | 1180 | E | 38 |
| 11 | Dinesh Karthik | DD | IND | 288 | 132.7 | 0 | -- | 15 | 433 | 525000 | 1231 | E | 23 |
| 12 | A Symonds | DC | AUS | 249 | 150.0 | 7 | 6.7 | 8 | 420 | 1350000 | 1655 | VG | 34 |
| 13 | Yusuf Pathan | RR | IND | 243 | 132.8 | 7 | 6.9 | 13 | 412 | 475000 | 1136 | E | 26 |
| 14 | Jacques Kallis | BRC | SA | 362 | 109.0 | 6 | 7.7 | 15 | 411 | 900000 | 2221 | G | 33 |
| 15 | T Dilshan | DD | SL | 371 | 122.0 | 0 | 6.1 | 14 | 408 | 250000 | 613 | O | 32 |
| 16 | RP Singh | DC | IND | 8 | 47.1 | 23 | 7.0 | 16 | 406 | 875000 | 2218 | G | 23 |
| 17 | MS Dhoni | CSK | IND | 332 | 127.2 | 0 | -- | 14 | 400 | 1500000 | 3752 | S | 27 |
| 18 | Dwayne Bravo | MI | WI | 218 | 107.4 | 11 | 7.8 | 10 | 395 | 150000 | 358 | O | 25 |
| 19 | Ravindra Jadeja | RR | IND | 295 | 110.9 | 6 | 6.5 | 13 | 395 | 30000 | 75 | O | 20 |
| 20 | Harbhajan Singh | MI | IND | 84 | 158.5 | 12 | 5.8 | 13 | 383 | 850000 | 2189 | G | 28 |
| 21 | Sachin Tendulkar | MI | IND | 364 | 120.1 | 0 | 9.7 | 13 | 375 | 1121250 | 2945 | S | 36 |
| 22 | M Muralitharan | CSK | SL | 8 | 100.0 | 14 | 5.2 | 13 | 361 | 600000 | 1638 | VG | 37 |
| 23 | Ashish Nehra | DD | IND | 1 | 100.0 | 19 | 6.8 | 12 | 349 | 400000 | 1113 | E | 30 |
| 24 | Lasith Malinga | MI | SL | 0 | 0.0 | 18 | 6.3 | 13 | 344 | 350000 | 1004 | E | 25 |
| 25 | Herschelle Gibbs | DC | SA | 328 | 107.5 | 0 | -- | 14 | 341 | 575000 | 1685 | VG | 35 |
| 26 | T Suman | DC | IND | 237 | 124.7 | 5 | 7.2 | 12 | 339 | 30000 | 86 | O | 25 |
| 27 | Pragyan Ojha | DC | IND | 1 | 14.3 | 18 | 6.5 | 15 | 325 | 30000 | 94 | O | 22 |
| 28 | Shane Warne | RR | AUS | 108 | 93.1 | 14 | 7.3 | 13 | 323 | 450000 | 1375 | E | 39 |
| 29 | K Sangakkara | KXI | SL | 332 | 102.5 | 0 | -- | 14 | 321 | 700000 | 2181 | G | 31 |
| 30 | B McCullum | KKR | NZ | 285 | 119.2 | 0 | -- | 12 | 318 | 700000 | 2140 | G | 27 |
| 31 | Munaf Patel | RR | IND | 33 | 126.9 | 16 | 6.9 | 11 | 317 | 275000 | 830 | O | 25 |
| 32 | Ross Taylor | BRC | NZ | 280 | 134.6 | 0 | 13.0 | 11 | 307 | 100000 | 312 | O | 25 |
| 33 | Sanath Jayasuriya | MI | SL | 221 | 115.1 | 7 | 8.6 | 12 | 302 | 975000 | 3136 | S | 39 |
| 34 | Albie Morkel | CSK | SA | 97 | 138.6 | 13 | 8.2 | 12 | 293 | 650000 | 2159 | G | 27 |
| 35 | R v d Merwe | BRC | SA | 122 | 124.5 | 9 | 7.3 | 10 | 292 | 75000 | 242 | O | 24 |
| 36 | Dwayne Smith | DC | WI | 215 | 162.9 | 1 | 8.9 | 6 | 285 | 100000 | 311 | O | 26 |
| 37 | Praveen Kumar | BRC | IND | 65 | 141.3 | 13 | 7.9 | 13 | 284 | 300000 | 1041 | E | 22 |
| 38 | Amit Mishra | DD | IND | 26 | 130.0 | 14 | 7.0 | 11 | 281 | 30000 | 102 | O | 26 |
| 39 | Abhishek Nayar | MI | IND | 193 | 127.0 | 4 | 7.0 | 13 | 278 | 100000 | 355 | O | 25 |
| 40 | Rahul Dravid | BRC | IND | 271 | 115.8 | 0 | -- | 13 | 273 | 1035000 | 3744 | S | 36 |
| 41 | Virat Kohli | BRC | IND | 246 | 112.3 | 0 | 7.7 | 16 | 268 | 300000 | 1150 | E | 20 |
| 42 | M Jayawardene | KXI | SL | 219 | 132.7 | 0 | -- | 10 | 264 | 475000 | 1698 | VG | 31 |
| 43 | Dirk Nannes | DD | AUS | 0 | -- | 15 | 7.5 | 13 | 252 | 70000 | 274 | O | 33 |
| 44 | Piyush Chawla | KXI | IND | 31 | 86.1 | 12 | 6.9 | 14 | 249 | 400000 | 1605 | VG | 20 |
| 45 | P Sangwan | DD | IND | 6 | 60.0 | 15 | 7.7 | 13 | 242 | 30000 | 122 | O | 18 |
| 46 | Gautam Gambhir | DD | IND | 286 | 102.9 | 0 | -- | 15 | 233 | 725000 | 3163 | S | 27 |
| 47 | Shadab Jakati | CSK | IND | 20 | 133.3 | 13 | 7.5 | 9 | 229 | 30000 | 122 | O | 28 |
| 48 | Virender Sehwag | DD | IND | 198 | 143.5 | 0 | 25.0 | 11 | 226 | 833750 | 3539 | S | 30 |
| 49 | David Warner | DD | AUS | 163 | 123.5 | 0 | -- | 7 | 219 | 250000 | 1030 | E | 22 |
| 50 | Ishant Sharma | KKR | IND | 16 | 123.1 | 11 | 6.9 | 11 | 210 | 950000 | 4325 | P | 20 |
| 51 | Mark Boucher | BRC | SA | 150 | 129.3 | 0 | -- | 12 | 206 | 450000 | 2127 | G | 32 |
| 52 | Manish Pandey | BRC | IND | 168 | 142.4 | 0 | -- | 5 | 201 | 30000 | 130 | O | 19 |
| 53 | Chris Gayle | KKR | WI | 171 | 119.6 | 1 | 7.6 | 7 | 196 | 800000 | 2280 | G | 29 |
| 54 | Naman Ojha | RR | IND | 168 | 116.7 | 0 | -- | 8 | 195 | 30000 | 141 | O | 25 |
| 55 | MN van Wyk | KKR | 167 | 126.5 | 0 | -- | 5 | 193 | 50000 | 226 | O | ||
| 56 | Robin Uthappa | BRC | IND | 175 | 102.9 | 0 | -- | 15 | 192 | 800000 | 4226 | P | 23 |
| 57 | Venugopal Rao | DC | IND | 124 | 108.8 | 4 | 8.1 | 16 | 192 | 30000 | 161 | O | 27 |
| 58 | L Balaji | CSK | IND | 4 | 40.0 | 13 | 8.4 | 13 | 183 | 30000 | 162 | O | 27 |
| 59 | Yusuf Abdulla | KXI | SA | 0 | -- | 14 | 8.6 | 9 | 179 | 50000 | 259 | O | 26 |
| 60 | Rajat Bhatia | DD | IND | 8 | 44.4 | 10 | 6.7 | 8 | 176 | 30000 | 156 | O | 29 |
| 61 | Amit Singh | RR | IND | 1 | 33.3 | 9 | 5.4 | 5 | 170 | 30000 | 154 | O | 27 |
| 62 | S Badrinath | CSK | IND | 177 | 107.9 | 0 | -- | 14 | 169 | 30000 | 178 | O | 28 |
| 63 | Simon Katich | KXI | AUS | 145 | 123.9 | 0 | -- | 9 | 167 | 200000 | 1114 | E | 33 |
| 64 | Vinay Kumar | BRC | IND | 47 | 106.8 | 9 | 8.4 | 11 | 165 | 30000 | 174 | O | 25 |
| 65 | Laxmi Shukla | KKR | IND | 83 | 97.6 | 3 | 7.1 | 9 | 163 | 30000 | 171 | O | 28 |
| 66 | Graeme Smith | RR | SA | 212 | 98.1 | 0 | -- | 12 | 162 | 475000 | 2848 | S | 28 |
| 67 | Daniel Vettori | DD | NZ | 34 | 106.3 | 7 | 7.8 | 7 | 160 | 625000 | 3510 | S | 30 |
| 68 | K Pietersen | BRC | ENG | 93 | 109.4 | 4 | 6.5 | 6 | 160 | 1550000 | 4145 | P | 28 |
| 69 | Ajinkya Rahane | MI | IND | 144 | 117.1 | 1 | 5.0 | 8 | 156 | 40000 | 235 | O | 20 |
| 70 | Sourav Ganguly | KKR | IND | 189 | 91.3 | 2 | 8.1 | 13 | 154 | 1092500 | 6981 | P | 36 |
| 71 | Jacob Oram | CSK | NZ | 88 | 94.6 | 5 | 8.6 | 11 | 149 | 675000 | 4336 | P | 30 |
| 72 | Brett Lee | KXI | AUS | 28 | 82.4 | 5 | 5.6 | 5 | 139 | 900000 | 2682 | S | 32 |
| 73 | Parthiv Patel | CSK | IND | 142 | 112.7 | 0 | -- | 9 | 139 | 325000 | 2179 | G | 24 |
| 74 | David Hussey | KKR | AUS | 98 | 166.1 | 0 | 8.5 | 4 | 137 | 675000 | 1967 | VG | 31 |
| 75 | D Mascarenhas | RR | ENG | 39 | 100.0 | 6 | 6.8 | 5 | 136 | 100000 | 640 | O | 31 |
| 76 | Ravi Bopara | KXI | ENG | 138 | 116.0 | 0 | 3.8 | 5 | 136 | 450000 | 1368 | E | 24 |
| 77 | Murali Kartik | KKR | IND | 21 | 105.0 | 4 | 5.9 | 10 | 135 | 425000 | 2968 | S | 32 |
| 78 | Ryan Harris | DC | AUS | 21 | 116.7 | 6 | 7.5 | 8 | 131 | 60000 | 419 | O | 29 |
| 79 | Ramesh Powar | KXI | IND | 23 | 104.5 | 5 | 6.3 | 9 | 131 | 30000 | 213 | O | 31 |
| 80 | Zaheer Khan | MI | IND | 8 | 72.7 | 6 | 6.8 | 6 | 123 | 450000 | 3234 | S | 30 |
| 81 | Kamran Khan | RR | IND | 3 | 60.0 | 6 | 7.0 | 5 | 122 | 30000 | 215 | O | 18 |
| 82 | Sunny Sohal | KXI | IND | 115 | 123.7 | 0 | -- | 8 | 122 | 30000 | 225 | O | 21 |
| 83 | Jesse Ryder | BRC | NZ | 56 | 114.3 | 3 | 6.8 | 5 | 116 | 160000 | 1199 | E | 24 |
| 84 | J Botha | RR | 47 | 117.5 | 3 | 6.2 | 3 | 113 | 0 | ||||
| 85 | Lee Carseldine | RR | Aus | 81 | 119.1 | 1 | 6.0 | 5 | 110 | 50000 | 398 | O | 33 |
| 86 | Ajit Agarkar | KKR | IND | 66 | 115.8 | 6 | 9.2 | 11 | 107 | 330000 | 2959 | S | 31 |
| 87 | Pinal Shah | MI | IND | 53 | 103.9 | 0 | -- | 9 | 104 | 40000 | 356 | O | 21 |
| 88 | Karan Goel | KXI | IND | 124 | 93.2 | 0 | 7.6 | 9 | 101 | 30000 | 276 | O | 22 |
| 89 | W P Saha | KKR | IND | 72 | 175.6 | 0 | -- | 8 | 101 | 30000 | 272 | O | 24 |
| 90 | Fidel Edwards | DC | WI | 4 | 80.0 | 5 | 6.6 | 6 | 98 | 150000 | 745 | O | 27 |
| 91 | Siddharth Trivedi | RR | IND | 9 | 50.0 | 6 | 7.6 | 7 | 92 | 30000 | 295 | O | 26 |
| 92 | S Asnodkar | RR | IND | 98 | 105.4 | 0 | -- | 8 | 91 | 30000 | 301 | O | 25 |
| 93 | Scott Styris | DC | NZ | 14 | 175.0 | 5 | 8.0 | 2 | 89 | 175000 | 1629 | VG | 33 |
| 94 | F Maharoof | DD | SL | 21 | 100.0 | 4 | 6.5 | 3 | 86 | 225000 | 2212 | G | 24 |
| 95 | A S Raut | RR | IND | 78 | 127.9 | 0 | 9.0 | 9 | 86 | 30000 | 325 | O | 22 |
| 96 | Sudeep Tyagi | CSK | IND | 0 | -- | 5 | 7.2 | 8 | 86 | 30000 | 321 | O | 21 |
| 97 | B Akhil | BRC | IND | 17 | 113.3 | 4 | 7.3 | 6 | 85 | 50000 | 519 | O | 31 |
| 98 | Chaminda Vaas | DC | SL | 30 | 142.9 | 4 | 8.9 | 2 | 83 | 200000 | 2003 | G | 35 |
| 99 | Rob Quiney | RR | AUS | 103 | 101.0 | 0 | -- | 7 | 83 | 50000 | 545 | O | 26 |
| 100 | A Flintoff | CSK | ENG | 62 | 117.0 | 2 | 9.5 | 3 | 81 | 1550000 | 4088 | P | 31 |
To find out which players offered the best value for money, we must look at the paisa vasool index (PVI). Players with a PVI below 1000 offer outstanding value (O); if the PVI is between 1000 to 1500, the player offers excellent value (E); a PVI between 1500 to 2000 is very good (VG), while a PVI between 2000 and 2500 can be classified as good (G). A PVI between 2500 and 4000 is satisfactory (S), but a PVI greater than 4000 must be considered to be a poor (P) return of investment.
Note, however, that this is a valuation of only cricketing skills. It does not factor in leadership skills and brand selling potential.
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
