Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji present the final Rediff.com Most Valuable Players ratings for the World Cup.
The 2015 World Cup has ended. Everyone is gushing that it was a great event. To be sure, the crowds were wonderful, Brendon McCullum was a truly gracious loser, the television pictures were beautiful, and Mitchell Starc bowled with admirable ability and purpose.
But when the dust settles down, cricket fans will start asking why most matches were so one-sided, why everything was 'fixed' so much in favour of batsmen (which is why the best bowler only appears at No 5 in the MVPI table), why the league phase went on and on, why the knock-out phase was so brief and brutal, and why the world's premier event had a DRS that didn't include the Hot Spot.
Glenn Maxwell (MVPI: 702) did just enough to gain the second position, behind A B de Villiers (875). Mitchell Starc (668) was placed fifth, just ahead of his main rival Trent Boult (607) -- while both claimed 22 wickets each, Starc scored because of a better economy rate and because he took more catches.
It is also of some interest to look for cricketers with disappointing MVPIs. Dwayne Smith (West Indies: 162), Vernon Philander (South Africa: 126), Mahela Jayawardene (Sri Lanka: 115), James Anderson (England: 121), Eoin Morgan (England: 114) and Stuart Broad (England: 102) were the biggest disappointments.
Table: Most valuable players in the 2015 World Cup
Rank | Player | Team | Runs | 4s | 6s | Strike Rate | W | Eco | Ct St | Run Outs | M | MVPI | |
1 | A B de Villiers | SA | 482 | 43 | 21 | 144.3 | 4 | 6.1 | 6 | 3 | 8 | 875 | |
2 | Glenn Maxwell | AUS | 324 | 35 | 14 | 182.0 | 6 | 5.7 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 702 | |
3 | Kumar Sangakkara | SL | 541 | 57 | 7 | 105.9 | 0 | 0.0 | 8 | 0 | 7 | 696 | |
4 | Martin Guptill | NZ | 547 | 59 | 16 | 104.6 | 0 | 0.0 | 4 | 0 | 9 | 678 | |
5 | Mitchell Starc | AUS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 22 | 3.5 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 668 | |
6 | Trent Boult | NZ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 22 | 4.4 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 607 | |
7 | Corey Anderson | NZ | 231 | 22 | 9 | 108.5 | 14 | 6.5 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 596 | |
8 | Tillakaratne Dilshan | SL | 395 | 46 | 3 | 96.6 | 5 | 4.9 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 593 | |
9 | Chris Gayle | WI | 340 | 17 | 26 | 117.2 | 5 | 5.4 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 581 | |
10 | Brendan Taylor | ZIM | 433 | 43 | 12 | 106.9 | 0 | 0.0 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 574 | |
11 | Sean Williams | ZIM | 339 | 29 | 6 | 109.0 | 7 | 6.4 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 553 | |
12 | Daniel Vettori | NZ | 50 | 6 | 1 | 108.7 | 15 | 4.0 | 6 | 0 | 9 | 539 | |
13 | Brendon McCullum | NZ | 328 | 44 | 17 | 188.5 | 0 | 0.0 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 521 | |
14 | Umesh Yadav | IND | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 18 | 5.0 | 8 | 1 | 8 | 512 | |
15 | Wahab Riaz | PAK | 83 | 9 | 2 | 97.6 | 16 | 5.6 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 503 | |
16 | Shikhar Dhawan | IND | 412 | 48 | 9 | 91.8 | 0 | 0.0 | 7 | 0 | 8 | 485 | |
17 | Morne Morkel | SA | 8 | 1 | 0 | 61.5 | 17 | 4.4 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 482 | |
18 | David Miller | SA | 324 | 21 | 14 | 139.1 | 0 | 0.0 | 3 | 0.5 | 8 | 481 | |
19 | David Warner | AUS | 345 | 38 | 9 | 120.2 | 0 | 0.0 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 476 | |
20 | Steven Smith | AUS | 402 | 37 | 4 | 91.6 | 0 | 9.5 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 474 | |
21 | Mohammed Shami | IND | 8 | 1 | 0 | 88.9 | 17 | 4.8 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 470 | |
22 | Imran Tahir | SA | 8 | 1 | 0 | 50.0 | 15 | 4.2 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 446 | |
23 | Shakib Al Hasan | BAN | 196 | 18 | 3 | 93.8 | 8 | 5.2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 443 | |
24 | Mushfiqur Rahim | BAN | 298 | 26 | 5 | 105.7 | 0 | 0.0 | 8 | 1.5 | 6 | 439 | |
25 | Mitchell Johnson | AUS | 31 | 4 | 1 | 155.0 | 15 | 5.1 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 432 | |
26 | Jerome Taylor | WI | 37 | 5 | 0 | 77.1 | 17 | 5.7 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 424 | |
27 | Suresh Raina | IND | 284 | 25 | 8 | 110.1 | 1 | 4.3 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 419 | |
28 | Hashim Amla | SA | 333 | 35 | 5 | 95.1 | 0 | 0.0 | 6 | 0.5 | 8 | 417 | |
29 | Grant Elliott | NZ | 310 | 29 | 7 | 105.4 | 2 | 8.5 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 412 | |
30 | Ravichandran Ashwin | IND | 30 | 0 | 0 | 55.6 | 13 | 4.3 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 410 | |
31 | Faf du Plessis | SA | 380 | 28 | 4 | 84.6 | 0 | 7.5 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 406 | |
32 | Angelo Mathews | SL | 195 | 11 | 7 | 89.9 | 6 | 5.8 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 386 | |
33 | MS Dhoni | IND | 237 | 18 | 6 | 102.2 | 0 | 0.0 | 15 | 1 | 8 | 381 | |
34 | Mahmudullah | BAN | 365 | 30 | 6 | 81.8 | 1 | 5.6 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 378 | |
35 | Jason Holder | WI | 155 | 12 | 9 | 112.3 | 9 | 6.1 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 374 | |
36 | Andre Russell | WI | 104 | 7 | 9 | 185.7 | 11 | 6.4 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 373 | |
37 | Rohit Sharma | IND | 330 | 33 | 9 | 91.7 | 0 | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 369 | |
38 | Josh Davey | SCOT | 55 | 5 | 0 | 62.5 | 15 | 6.2 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 361 | |
39 | Mohit Sharma | IND | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 13 | 5.0 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 360 | |
40 | Virat Kohli | IND | 305 | 29 | 1 | 81.6 | 0 | 7.0 | 5 | 1.5 | 8 | 359 | |
41 | Shaiman Anwar | UAE | 311 | 34 | 4 | 91.5 | 0 | 6.0 | 1 | 0.5 | 6 | 356 | |
42 | Misbah-ul-Haq | PAK | 350 | 25 | 7 | 75.1 | 0 | 0.0 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 352 | |
43 | Tim Southee | NZ | 23 | 1 | 2 | 127.8 | 15 | 5.8 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 349 | |
44 | James Faulkner | AUS | 44 | 6 | 2 | 176.0 | 10 | 4.7 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 339 | |
45 | Aaron Finch | AUS | 280 | 26 | 6 | 92.1 | 0 | 0.0 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 337 | |
46 | Michael Clarke | AUS | 219 | 25 | 3 | 96.1 | 1 | 2.8 | 5 | 1 | 7 | 334 | |
47 | Jean-Paul Duminy | SA | 164 | 13 | 3 | 102.5 | 6 | 5.8 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 333 | |
48 | Lahiru Thirimanne | SL | 302 | 29 | 2 | 84.8 | 0 | 0.0 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 327 | |
49 | Moeen Ali | ENG | 192 | 24 | 5 | 105.5 | 4 | 5.3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 321 | |
50 | Rilee Rossouw | SA | 210 | 23 | 5 | 116.7 | 0 | 6.5 | 9 | 0 | 6 | 312 | |
51 | Dale Steyn | SA | 17 | 3 | 0 | 70.8 | 11 | 5.0 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 302 | |
52 | Ed Joyce | IRL | 246 | 23 | 5 | 98.4 | 0 | 0.0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 299 | |
53 | Marlon Samuels | WI | 230 | 20 | 5 | 77.2 | 3 | 5.0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 296 | |
54 | Amjad Javed | UAE | 170 | 21 | 4 | 87.2 | 7 | 6.5 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 295 | |
55 | Ravindra Jadeja | IND | 57 | 8 | 0 | 96.6 | 9 | 5.4 | 1 | 0.5 | 8 | 284 | |
56 | Richie Berrington | SCOT | 139 | 9 | 5 | 76.0 | 7 | 5.7 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 284 | |
57 | Lasith Malinga | SL | 4 | 0 | 0 | 33.3 | 12 | 5.6 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 277 | |
58 | Andy Balbirnie | IRL | 236 | 20 | 4 | 90.8 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.5 | 6 | 268 | |
59 | Shane Watson | AUS | 208 | 22 | 4 | 106.1 | 2 | 6.6 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 267 | |
60 | Brad Haddin | AUS | 126 | 16 | 4 | 157.5 | 0 | 0.0 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 265 | |
61 | Kyle Abbott | SA | 12 | 2 | 0 | 63.2 | 9 | 4.2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 263 | |
62 | Kyle Coetzer | SCOT | 253 | 33 | 4 | 89.7 | 0 | 7.4 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 257 | |
63 | Shapoor Zadran | AFG | 17 | 2 | 0 | 81.0 | 10 | 5.2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 257 | |
64 | Sohail Khan | PAK | 21 | 1 | 0 | 50.0 | 12 | 5.9 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 257 | |
65 | Niall O'Brien | IRL | 199 | 23 | 3 | 109.3 | 0 | 0.0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 256 | |
66 | Joe Root | ENG | 202 | 19 | 2 | 84.2 | 1 | 6.2 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 253 | |
67 | Umar Akmal | PAK | 164 | 17 | 2 | 80.4 | 0 | 0.0 | 11 | 1.5 | 7 | 251 | |
68 | Soumya Sarkar | BAN | 173 | 23 | 3 | 89.6 | 0 | 4.6 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 248 | |
69 | Mohammad Naveed | UAE | 73 | 6 | 5 | 123.7 | 8 | 6.1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 247 | |
70 | Ian Bell | ENG | 262 | 27 | 0 | 77.3 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 242 | |
71 | Sabbir Rahman | BAN | 182 | 18 | 5 | 98.4 | 1 | 6.5 | 3 | 0.5 | 6 | 238 | |
72 | Jos Buttler | ENG | 141 | 17 | 2 | 135.6 | 0 | 0.0 | 8 | 0 | 6 | 235 | |
73 | William Porterfield | IRL | 275 | 22 | 3 | 67.2 | 0 | 0.0 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 234 | |
74 | Ajinkya Rahane | IND | 208 | 21 | 3 | 82.5 | 0 | 0.0 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 231 | |
75 | Kane Williamson | NZ | 234 | 28 | 2 | 78.0 | 0 | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 231 | |
76 | Shahid Afridi | PAK | 116 | 10 | 6 | 133.3 | 2 | 4.9 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 228 | |
77 | Tendai Chatara | ZIM | 23 | 2 | 0 | 65.7 | 10 | 5.7 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 223 | |
78 | Paul Stirling | IRL | 159 | 17 | 5 | 100.0 | 2 | 5.7 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 221 | |
79 | Sikandar Raza | ZIM | 125 | 15 | 4 | 99.2 | 2 | 4.9 | 2 | 0.5 | 6 | 221 | |
80 | Alex Cusack | IRL | 19 | 1 | 0 | 82.6 | 7 | 4.6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 219 | |
81 | Quinton de Kock | SA | 145 | 21 | 0 | 82.9 | 0 | 0.0 | 10 | 1 | 8 | 219 | |
82 | Haris Sohail | PAK | 177 | 14 | 1 | 72.2 | 3 | 6.3 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 217 | |
83 | Thisara Perera | SL | 62 | 8 | 1 | 144.2 | 6 | 6.7 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 216 | |
84 | Josh Hazlewood | AUS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 7 | 4.1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 213 | |
85 | Chris Woakes | ENG | 90 | 6 | 0 | 95.7 | 5 | 6.2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 211 | |
86 | Mohammad Irfan | PAK | 4 | 0 | 0 | 21.1 | 8 | 4.5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 211 | |
87 | Lendl Simmons | WI | 173 | 14 | 8 | 101.2 | 0 | 12.0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 207 | |
88 | Darren Sammy | WI | 177 | 17 | 6 | 100.0 | 1 | 6.1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 205 | |
89 | Sarfraz Ahmed | PAK | 160 | 12 | 3 | 84.7 | 0 | 0.0 | 6 | 0.5 | 3 | 205 | |
90 | Ahmed Shehzad | PAK | 227 | 24 | 1 | 72.5 | 0 | 0.0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 203 | |
91 | Hamid Hassan | AFG | 38 | 5 | 0 | 44.2 | 8 | 5.1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 203 | |
92 | Mashrafe Mortaza | BAN | 28 | 5 | 0 | 121.7 | 7 | 5.3 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 202 | |
93 | Rahat Ali | PAK | 7 | 0 | 0 | 25.9 | 7 | 4.4 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 200 | |
94 | Sohaib Maqsood | PAK | 153 | 12 | 3 | 86.9 | 1 | 4.0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 200 | |
95 | Mohammad Nabi | AFG | 90 | 8 | 2 | 78.3 | 3 | 5.7 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 192 | |
96 | Gary Wilson | IRL | 141 | 15 | 1 | 103.7 | 0 | 0.0 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 189 | |
97 | Craig Ervine | ZIM | 159 | 12 | 5 | 88.3 | 0 | 0.0 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 188 | |
98 | Manjula Guruge | UAE | 14 | 1 | 0 | 53.8 | 7 | 4.8 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 188 | |
99 | Matt Machan | SCOT | 186 | 21 | 2 | 80.9 | 1 | 7.8 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 173 | |
100 | Ross Taylor | NZ | 221 | 17 | 0 | 61.6 | 0 | 0.0 | 6 | 0 | 9 | 173 |
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.