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The 50 most valuable players of the World Cup

Last updated on: March 18, 2011 19:25 IST

Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji graphically depict the 50 most valuable players in groups of ten

The most valuable player index (MVPI) is calculated by adding together a player's batting, bowling and fielding index.

The batting index is based on a combination of runs scored and strike rate; the bowling index uses a combination of the number of wickets taken and the economy rate; and the fielding index is based on the number of catches taken and the fielder's participation in run-out dismissals.

- World Cup 2011

Each of these three indices is expressed as a 'run equivalent'. So Tillakaratne Dilshan's all-round performance is equivalent to a pure batsman scoring 471 runs.

In this update, computed at the end of the England-West Indies match, we graphically depict the 50 most valuable players in groups of ten. Shahid Afridi is mostly 'red' because most of his MVPI is made up of bowling points; Sachin Tendulkar or Andrew Strauss are almost entirely 'blue' because their MVPI is made up mostly by batting points. Yuvraj Singh offers an equal mix or 'red' and 'blue'.

The 'green' streaks on top correspond to fielding points. That's why wicket-keepers like Kumar Sangakkara and Brad Haddin tend to have the largest 'green heads'.

 

 

For readers more comfortable with a convention table, we are presenting the usual list, with additional detail about player performance.

  Name From Runs 6s 4s Strike rate W Eco rate M MVPI
1 Shahid Afridi© PAK 63 1 8 137.0 16 3.5 5 597
2 Tillakaratne Dilshan SL 283 1 38 101.4 4 3.1 5 471
3 Virender Sehwag IND 327 7 38 125.3 0 -- 5 442
4 Graeme Swann ENG 60 1 7 120.0 12 4.2 6 430
5 AB de Villiers SA 318 7 27 111.2 0 -- 4 415
6 Sachin Tendulkar IND 324 8 32 100.3 0 -- 5 384
7 Andrew Strauss© ENG 329 3 34 97.3 0 -- 6 381
8 Shane Watson AUS 256 7 26 98.5 2 4.4 5 370
9 Kemar Roach WI 3 0 0 30.0 13 3.9 5 368
10 Yuvraj Singh IND 171 1 19 82.6 7 5.1 5 351
11 Tim Southee NZ 6 0 0 60.0 11 3.4 5 347
12 Jonathan Trott ENG 336 0 26 82.6 0 -- 6 345
13 Harvir Baidwan CAN 53 0 6 67.1 13 5.6 6 343
14 Kevin O'Brien IRE 183 7 19 122.8 4 6.8 5 342
15 Zaheer Khan IND 4 0 0 50.0 12 4.3 5 338
16 Umar Gul PAK 36 1 3 124.1 10 4.2 5 332
17 Darren Sammy © WI 51 3 4 121.4 8 4.4 5 329
18 Kieron Pollard WI 178 11 14 161.8 1 4.9 5 323
19 Kumar Sangakkara © SL 252 2 20 89.7 0 -- 5 322
20 Sulieman Benn WI 13 0 1 56.5 12 4.7 5 320
21 Ryan ten Doeschate NED 201 4 13 85.2 6 6.1 5 316
22 Robin Peterson SA 21 1 2 91.3 10 4.4 5 316
23 Imran Tahir SA 1 0 0 100.0 11 3.8 3 316
24 Mitchell Johnson AUS 19 0 3 190.0 9 3.7 5 312
25 Jean-Paul Duminy SA 204 6 11 104.6 2 5.1 5 310
26 Brendon McCullum NZ 225 5 25 95.3 0 -- 5 308
27 Shakib Al Hasan © BAN 112 0 10 74.2 6 4.9 5 308
28 Brad Haddin AUS 237 3 31 84.9 0 -- 5 304
29 Tim Bresnan ENG 41 1 2 82.0 9 4.9 6 300
30 Dale Steyn SA 20 0 3 64.5 10 4.1 5 300
31 Ross Taylor NZ 212 12 15 111.6 0 -- 5 291
32 Upul Tharanga SL 258 0 36 88.4 0 -- 5 278
33 Shaun Tait AUS 0 0 0 -- 10 4.7 5 278
34 Ray Price ZIM 37 0 4 62.7 7 3.5 5 271
35 George Dockrell IRE 42 0 6 79.2 7 4.5 5 265
36 Hashim Amla SA 248 1 18 87.0 0 -- 5 264
37 John Mooney IRE 58 0 8 64.4 8 5.7 5 259
38 Jacques Kallis SA 109 0 10 69.0 5 4.3 5 254
39 Michael Clarke AUS 191 1 18 101.1 0 4.2 5 254
40 Ashish Bagai © CAN 225 0 27 69.9 0 -- 6 247
41 Jacob Oram NZ 25 3 1 277.8 7 4.2 3 246
42 Brett Lee AUS 0 0 0 -- 8 4.3 5 236
43 Ian Bell ENG 220 2 13 80.0 0 -- 6 233
44 Muttiah Muralitharan SL 0 0 0 0.0 7 3.6 5 223
45 Balaji Rao CAN 22 0 2 53.7 9 5.5 6 221
46 Prosper Utseya ZIM 104 0 6 57.1 5 4.1 5 217
47 Trent Johnston IRE 42 1 4 91.3 7 5.7 4 212
48 Gautam Gambhir IND 197 0 20 90.4 0 -- 5 212
49 Virat Kohli IND 155 2 14 94.5 0 -- 5 208
50 Mohammad Hafeez PAK 106 1 14 79.1 4 4.7 5 208

 

One recent refrain among TV anchors and experts is that the World Cup can only be won by teams with 'dominating' captains, e.g., Imran Khan leading Pakistan in 1992. If we look for captains in our list, we find Shahid Afridi right on top, followed by Andrew Strauss, Darren Sammy, Kumar Sangakkara, Shakib Al Hasan and Ashish Bagai (and Ross Taylor could be called a 'captain' too). The three surprise omissions from the top fifty are Graeme Smith (currently ranked 111), Ricky Ponting (134) and our own M S Dhoni (76)!