Although Virat has scored 47 more runs, Warner's strike rate of 168.6, which is better than Kohli's strike rate of 137, puts both batsmen almost at par.
Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji analyse IPL performances in Rediff.com's Most Valuable Players ratings.
Virat Kohli is still the most valuable player in this season's Indian Premier League with a MVPI of 490.
Virat is proving unstoppable at the moment, having smashed 433 runs, including 4 fifties and a century in seven matches, at an average of 72.
He established a new Indian record in the IPL game between the Royal Challengers Bangalore and the Kolkata Knight Riders at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Monday, May 2.
The RCB skipper became the Indian batsman with most runs (1,058) in Twenty20 (international and domestic) cricket in a calendar year, going past Suresh Raina's 1,042 runs scored in 2010.
In the MVP race, Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper David Warner is not too far behind with a MVPI of 486.
Although Virat has scored 47 more runs, Warner's strike rate of 168.6, which is better than Kohli's strike rate of 137, puts both batsmen almost at par.
If we compare the two batsmen based on their paisa vasool or player value index (PVI), we see that Warner receives $844 for every run, while Kohli gets $1,903 per run.
Since the IPL teams require at least seven players in the playing eleven, Indian players -- and especially India's top players -- always enjoy this advantage.
Players who score a lot of runs at high strike rates; take a lot of wickets at a low economy rate; and also take catches or participate in run-outs have the highest MVPI.
The MVPI collapses a player's batting + bowling + fielding performance into a 'run equivalent'.
The table below indicates the MVPI and the PVI for the top 100 players in IPL 9:
The data has been updated after the 31st match of the IPL between the Gujarat Lions and the Delhi Daredevils on May 3, 2016.
