Kumar Sangakkara, the first batsman to hit four successive centuries in a World Cup, has zoomed past A B de Villiers to occupy the top slot in Rediff.com's Most Valuable Players ratings for the World Cup.
Check out the latest MVP rankings!
This is hardly a surprise. After four centuries on the trot with a strike rate of nearly 120, Sri Lanka's run machine Kumar Sangakkara (MVPI: 686) has raced to the top of the most valuable player standings at the ICC World Cup.
The Most Valuable Player Index (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 -- and collapses a player's batting + bowling + fielding performance into a single 'run equivalent.'
South Africa Captain A B de Villiers is just 82 'runs' behind Sangakkara and remains a formidable rival for the MVP crown -- it will probably boil down to who wins the likely quarter-final game between Sri Lanka and South Africa.
Glenn Maxwell (MVPI: 456, ranked 6th) must be considered the most promising dark horse, especially if Australia keep winning.
If Maxwell adds a few wickets to his tally, his near-200 strike rate could see him streaking to the top.
Zimbabwe all-rounder Sean Williams, with 289 runs and seven wickets, has contributed 500 'runs' so far, but his good run is sadly about to end with his team failing to make it to the quarter-finals.
Left-handed opener Shikhar Dhawan (MVPI: 399, ranked 8th) is the lone Indian in the top 10, but he should soon be joined by pacer Mohammed Shami (MVPI: 351, ranked 16th), Ravichandran Ashwin (MVPI: 339, 20th) and Virat Kohli (MVPI: 329, 24th) if India continue with their good showing in the final weeks of the tournament.
Pakistan's World Cup campaign has finally acquired some sparkle, but it is hard to spot potential match winners as only pacer Wahab Riaz (MVPI: 360, 15th) and captain Misbah-ul-Haq (MVPI: 293, 30th) figure in the top 50.
And don't even bother looking for hapless England players! But if you must, you will find all-rounder Moeen Ali (MVPI: 311, 26th), batsman Joe Root (MVPI: 243, 41st) and wicket-keeper Jos Buttler (MVPI: 225, 49th) if you look hard enough.
Very few other England players are visible, and, frankly, they don't deserve to be! They should consider playing in the Indian Premier League as former captain Michael Vaughan rightly points out.
Table: Most valuable players so far in the 2015 World Cup (after 35 matches, as at midnight, March 11, 2015)
| Rank | Player | Team | Runs | 4s | 6s | Strike Rate | W | Eco | Ct St | Run Outs | M | MVPI |
| 1 | Kumar Sangakkara | SL | 496 | 54 | 7 | 119.5 | 0 | 0.0 | 8 | 0 | 6 | 686 |
| 2 | A B de Villiers | SA | 318 | 29 | 16 | 153.6 | 2 | 6.3 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 604 |
| 3 | Tillakaratne Dilshan | SL | 395 | 46 | 3 | 98.3 | 5 | 4.9 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 599 |
| 4 | Sean Williams | ZIM | 289 | 26 | 3 | 113.8 | 7 | 6.4 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 506 |
| 5 | Chris Gayle | WI | 279 | 15 | 18 | 108.6 | 5 | 5.4 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 477 |
| 6 | Glenn Maxwell | AUS | 257 | 27 | 11 | 190.4 | 2 | 6.4 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 456 |
| 7 | Daniel Vettori | NZ | 10 | 1 | 0 | 142.9 | 12 | 3.0 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 430 |
| 8 | Shikhar Dhawan | IND | 333 | 38 | 8 | 98.5 | 0 | 0.0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 399 |
| 9 | Brendon McCullum | NZ | 249 | 34 | 12 | 193.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 396 |
| 10 | Mushfiqur Rahim | BAN | 256 | 22 | 5 | 119.6 | 0 | 0.0 | 5 | 1.5 | 4 | 396 |
| 11 | Brendan Taylor | ZIM | 295 | 28 | 7 | 100.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 4 | 0.5 | 5 | 377 |
| 12 | Trent Boult | NZ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 13 | 3.9 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 375 |
| 13 | Angelo Mathews | SL | 176 | 10 | 7 | 95.1 | 6 | 5.8 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 374 |
| 14 | Hashim Amla | SA | 295 | 29 | 5 | 99.3 | 0 | 0.0 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 373 |
| 15 | Wahab Riaz | PAK | 67 | 7 | 2 | 106.3 | 11 | 5.5 | 3 | 0.5 | 5 | 360 |
| 16 | Mohammed Shami | IND | 7 | 1 | 0 | 87.5 | 12 | 4.1 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 351 |
| 17 | Mitchell Starc | AUS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 12 | 3.8 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 347 |
| 18 | Corey Anderson | NZ | 119 | 12 | 3 | 106.3 | 8 | 5.1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 343 |
| 19 | Tim Southee | NZ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 13 | 4.8 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 340 |
| 20 | Ravichandran Ashwin | IND | 22 | 0 | 0 | 57.9 | 11 | 3.9 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 339 |
| 21 | Shaiman Anwar | UAE | 270 | 29 | 4 | 100.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 0.5 | 4 | 333 |
| 22 | David Miller | SA | 226 | 13 | 11 | 135.3 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 0.5 | 5 | 330 |
| 23 | David Warner | AUS | 243 | 25 | 6 | 118.5 | 0 | 0.0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 330 |
| 24 | Virat Kohli | IND | 263 | 25 | 1 | 86.2 | 0 | 0.0 | 4 | 1.5 | 5 | 329 |
| 25 | Josh Davey | SCOT | 29 | 1 | 0 | 54.7 | 14 | 6.1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 326 |
| 26 | Moeen Ali | ENG | 192 | 24 | 5 | 105.5 | 4 | 5.3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 321 |
| 27 | Morne Morkel | SA | 8 | 1 | 0 | 61.5 | 11 | 4.5 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 311 |
| 28 | Shakib Al Hasan | BAN | 163 | 15 | 3 | 103.8 | 3 | 4.8 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 309 |
| 29 | Faf du Plessis | SA | 277 | 21 | 3 | 89.1 | 0 | 7.5 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 295 |
| 30 | Misbah-ul-Haq | PAK | 277 | 21 | 3 | 76.7 | 0 | 0.0 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 293 |
| 31 | Jerome Taylor | WI | 26 | 3 | 0 | 72.2 | 11 | 5.3 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 290 |
| 32 | Ed Joyce | IRL | 235 | 22 | 5 | 101.3 | 0 | 0.0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 287 |
| 33 | Richie Berrington | SCOT | 138 | 9 | 5 | 78.0 | 7 | 5.7 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 287 |
| 34 | Imran Tahir | SA | 8 | 1 | 0 | 50.0 | 10 | 4.4 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 286 |
| 35 | Lahiru Thirimanne | SL | 261 | 24 | 2 | 84.7 | 0 | 0.0 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 285 |
| 36 | Kyle Coetzer | SCOT | 253 | 33 | 4 | 93.4 | 0 | 7.4 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 266 |
| 37 | Lasith Malinga | SL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 16.7 | 11 | 5.4 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 264 |
| 38 | Shapoor Zadran | AFG | 17 | 2 | 0 | 81.0 | 10 | 5.1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 262 |
| 39 | Andre Russell | WI | 77 | 6 | 6 | 208.1 | 7 | 6.3 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 261 |
| 40 | Andy Balbirnie | IRL | 218 | 20 | 4 | 97.3 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 249 |
| 41 | Joe Root | ENG | 202 | 19 | 2 | 84.2 | 1 | 6.2 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 243 |
| 42 | Niall O'Brien | IRL | 187 | 21 | 3 | 108.7 | 0 | 0.0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 241 |
| 43 | Kyle Abbott | SA | 12 | 2 | 0 | 63.2 | 8 | 4.1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 235 |
| 44 | Tendai Chatara | ZIM | 23 | 2 | 0 | 71.9 | 10 | 5.7 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 235 |
| 45 | Mohit Sharma | IND | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 7 | 4.3 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 230 |
| 46 | Umesh Yadav | IND | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 7 | 4.8 | 7 | 0.5 | 5 | 230 |
| 47 | Aaron Finch | AUS | 177 | 16 | 4 | 105.4 | 0 | 0.0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 229 |
| 48 | Dale Steyn | SA | 17 | 3 | 0 | 70.8 | 8 | 4.8 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 227 |
| 49 | Jos Buttler | ENG | 141 | 17 | 2 | 135.6 | 0 | 0.0 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 225 |
| 50 | Thisara Perera | SL | 62 | 8 | 1 | 155.0 | 6 | 6.7 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 223 |
| 51 | Paul Stirling | IRL | 156 | 17 | 5 | 103.3 | 2 | 5.8 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 221 |
| 52 | Jason Holder | WI | 113 | 7 | 7 | 100.9 | 5 | 6.2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 215 |
| 53 | Mahmudullah | BAN | 216 | 16 | 3 | 74.0 | 1 | 5.5 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 215 |
| 54 | Chris Woakes | ENG | 90 | 6 | 0 | 95.7 | 5 | 6.2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 211 |
| 55 | Mohammad Irfan | PAK | 4 | 0 | 0 | 21.1 | 8 | 4.5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 211 |
| 56 | Marlon Samuels | WI | 194 | 16 | 4 | 73.2 | 2 | 5.9 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 210 |
| 57 | Rilee Rossouw | SA | 128 | 13 | 4 | 164.1 | 0 | 6.5 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 208 |
| 58 | Brad Haddin | AUS | 119 | 15 | 4 | 163.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 207 |
| 59 | Amjad Javed | UAE | 109 | 13 | 3 | 118.5 | 4 | 6.6 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 199 |
| 60 | Suresh Raina | IND | 102 | 8 | 3 | 118.6 | 1 | 4.1 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 198 |
| 61 | Lendl Simmons | WI | 161 | 13 | 7 | 104.5 | 0 | 12.0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 197 |
| 62 | Mashrafe Mortaza | BAN | 27 | 5 | 0 | 135.0 | 6 | 4.9 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 196 |
| 63 | Umar Akmal | PAK | 124 | 11 | 2 | 82.7 | 0 | 0.0 | 7 | 1.5 | 5 | 196 |
| 64 | Kane Williamson | NZ | 182 | 21 | 2 | 83.1 | 0 | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 195 |
| 65 | Ravindra Jadeja | IND | 18 | 2 | 0 | 56.3 | 7 | 4.9 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 195 |
| 66 | Sohail Khan | PAK | 17 | 1 | 0 | 45.9 | 9 | 6.0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 190 |
| 67 | Alex Cusack | IRL | 18 | 1 | 0 | 81.8 | 6 | 4.7 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 186 |
| 68 | Steven Smith | AUS | 176 | 16 | 2 | 85.4 | 0 | 9.5 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 186 |
| 69 | Ian Bell | ENG | 210 | 21 | 0 | 74.2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 184 |
| 70 | Shahid Afridi | PAK | 93 | 7 | 5 | 129.2 | 2 | 5.0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 182 |
| 71 | Mitchell Johnson | AUS | 4 | 0 | 0 | 36.4 | 8 | 6.2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 173 |
| 72 | Hamid Hassan | AFG | 38 | 5 | 0 | 45.2 | 7 | 5.3 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 172 |
| 73 | Jean-Paul Duminy | SA | 133 | 11 | 3 | 103.9 | 1 | 6.6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 171 |
| 74 | Sohaib Maqsood | PAK | 124 | 11 | 3 | 93.9 | 1 | 4.0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 169 |
| 75 | Craig Ervine | ZIM | 132 | 11 | 4 | 95.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 168 |
| 76 | Mohammad Nabi | AFG | 74 | 7 | 1 | 75.5 | 3 | 6.0 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 167 |
| 77 | Soumya Sarkar | BAN | 93 | 13 | 2 | 101.1 | 0 | 4.3 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 166 |
| 78 | Ajinkya Rahane | IND | 126 | 15 | 3 | 102.4 | 0 | 0.0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 165 |
| 79 | MS Dhoni | IND | 81 | 7 | 2 | 101.3 | 0 | 0.0 | 9 | 1 | 5 | 165 |
| 80 | Alasdair Evans | SCOT | 38 | 5 | 0 | 66.7 | 6 | 5.4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 164 |
| 81 | Gary Wilson | IRL | 112 | 13 | 1 | 114.3 | 0 | 0.0 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 162 |
| 82 | Darren Sammy | WI | 150 | 14 | 5 | 93.2 | 1 | 6.8 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 161 |
| 83 | Martin Guptill | NZ | 156 | 20 | 1 | 83.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 160 |
| 84 | Haris Sohail | PAK | 133 | 10 | 1 | 73.5 | 2 | 6.6 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 159 |
| 85 | James Taylor | ENG | 141 | 12 | 3 | 95.3 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 159 |
| 86 | Michael Clarke | AUS | 80 | 7 | 0 | 93.0 | 1 | 2.8 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 159 |
| 87 | Mitchell Marsh | AUS | 31 | 3 | 0 | 100.0 | 5 | 5.3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 157 |
| 88 | Preston Mommsen | SCOT | 148 | 16 | 1 | 77.1 | 0 | 0.0 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 156 |
| 89 | Kevin O'Brien | IRL | 123 | 15 | 3 | 107.0 | 6 | 9.0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 155 |
| 90 | Rahat Ali | PAK | 1 | 0 | 0 | 16.7 | 5 | 3.8 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 155 |
| 91 | Sabbir Rahman | BAN | 112 | 11 | 3 | 91.8 | 1 | 6.4 | 3 | 0.5 | 4 | 155 |
| 92 | Suranga Lakmal | SL | 7 | 0 | 0 | 41.2 | 7 | 6.1 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 150 |
| 93 | Samiullah Shenwari | AFG | 247 | 21 | 6 | 57.0 | 0 | 5.5 | 2 | 0.5 | 5 | 149 |
| 94 | Mohammad Naveed | UAE | 42 | 3 | 3 | 120.0 | 5 | 6.1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 147 |
| 95 | Rohit Sharma | IND | 143 | 16 | 4 | 86.7 | 0 | 7.0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 143 |
| 96 | Manjula Guruge | UAE | 10 | 1 | 0 | 62.5 | 5 | 4.6 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 141 |
| 97 | Adam Milne | NZ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 20.0 | 4 | 4.4 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 138 |
| 98 | Ahmed Shehzad | PAK | 159 | 17 | 1 | 69.4 | 0 | 0.0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 137 |
| 99 | Steven Finn | ENG | 2 | 0 | 0 | 13.3 | 8 | 6.9 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 137 |
| 100 | Sikandar Raza | ZIM | 97 | 14 | 1 | 87.4 | 1 | 5.0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 132 |
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.
Check out how the top 30 players have earned their rating points in the MVPI table after 35 matches:
EARLIER:
- March 7: De Villiers overtakes Gayle in World Cup MVP standings
- February 24: Southee leads World Cup MVP race. Dhawan 4th
- March 1: Gayle leads MVP race, de Villiers not far behind
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