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IPL 2022: Andre Russell Leads MVP Race

May 16, 2022 15:10 IST

The Most Valuable Player Index table is telling another (worrying?) story: Performance from players in teams that are not going to make the top four is dropping somewhat alarmingly.
The IPL is gruelling and cruel. It can do wonders to your career, but can also seriously hurt your international prospects if you get injured in a match that is essentially inconsequential.
Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji present Rediff.com's Most Valuable Player Index after Game 63.

IMAGE: Kolkata Knight Riders all-rounder Andre Russell bowls Sunrisers Hyderabad Captain Kane Williamson at the MCA stadium in Pune, May 14, 2022. Photograph: BCCI

Andre Russell (MVPI: 705) has stormed ahead of Jos Buttler (644). Russell is scoring runs rapidly and taking wickets too. Buttler's runs have recently dried up, and his strike rate is also marginally down.

However, time might be running out for Russell since KKR currently look unlikely to make the play-offs. Buttler could still regain the top position if we compare his MVPI with players from teams likely to be in the top four.

For example, K L Rahul (465) from LSG or Rashid Khan (514) and Hardik Pandya (455) from GT, or Yuzvendra Chahal (512) and Sanju Samson (455) from RR. Sadly, Samson seems content to climb a hill, instead of heading for the more magnificent mountain peaks.

The Most Valuable Player Index table is telling another (worrying?) story: Performance from players in teams that are not going to make the top four is dropping somewhat alarmingly.

The IPL is gruelling and cruel. It can do wonders to your career, but can also seriously hurt your international prospects if you get injured in a match that is essentially inconsequential. If one looks closely, the trend of top players from losing teams either leaving or 'switching off' in the end weeks is becoming glaringly evident.

Thankfully, the IPL also provides new evidence, or reassurance, about the ability of several players. Among the Indian players Chahal, Umesh Yadav (451), Harshal Patel (423), Mohammed Shami (411), and, even more so, R Ashwin (421) and Dinesh Karthik (402) have demonstrated an admirable level of skill and resilience in T20 cricket.

The table below tells many other interesting stories. India's bench strength of fast bowlers is looking more and more impressive, India's largely 'invisible' batsmen have more to offer than we might realise, Sri Lankan cricketers might be making a significant comeback in T20 cricket, retiring fully or partially from international cricket earlier than usual might leave you wealthier at the end of your career, even a marginal second skill (bowling a couple of good overs, or being able to keep wickets) dramatically increasing your value etc, etc.

This analysis is based on 63 matches of IPL 2022. We have assumed the par score to be 180 and every wicket to be worth 18 'runs'.

Best Performing Players so far in IPL 2022 (after Match 63 ending 15.5.22)

 

 
RankPlayerTeamFromRunsTop Score4s6sStrike RateWicketsEconomy RateGameMVPIPVI(US$)
1 Andre Russell KKR WI 330 70 18 32 182.3 17 9.3 13 705 1945
2 Jos Buttler RR ENG 627 116 56 37 148.2 0 - 13 644 1775
3 WaninduHasaranga RCB SL 38 18 4 1 90.5 23 7.5 13 521 2555
4 Rashid Khan GT AFG 72 40 2 7 189.5 16 6.9 13 514 3335
5 YuzvendraChahal RR IND 5 5 0 0 62.5 24 7.8 13 512 1451
6 LiamLivingstone PBKS ENG 385 70 27 29 180.8 3 10 12 510 2577
7 KL Rahul LSG IND 469 103 39 21 135.5 0 - 13 465 4178
8 Hardik Pandya GT IND 351 87 37 8 131.5 4 7.3 12 455 3768
9 Sanju Samson RR IND 359 55 33 21 153.4 0 - 13 455 3516
10 Umesh Yadav KKR IND 55 21 4 4 141 16 6.9 11 451 507
11 David Warner DC AUS 427 92 51 15 152.5 0 - 10 450 1587
12 Kagiso Rabada PBKS SA 42 25 5 1 102.4 21 8.4 11 434 2436
13 Krunal Pandya LSG IND 183 42 16 4 127.1 9 6.6 13 429 2198
14 Harshal Patel RCB IND 42 11 4 2 113.5 18 7.7 12 423 3146
15 R Ashwin RR IND 143 50 12 6 140.2 10 7.2 13 421 2063
16 Sunil Narine KKR WI 50 22 6 3 151.5 9 5.5 13 417 1644
17 Glenn Maxwell RCB AUS 228 55 25 10 166.4 5 7.1 10 417 3266
18 MohammedShami GT IND 0 0 0 0 - 18 7.6 13 411 1738
19 DineshKarthik RCB IND 285 66 22 21 192.6 0 - 13 402 1694
20 Shubman Gill GT IND 402 96 43 9 135.4 0 - 13 395 2315
21 Deepak Hooda LSG IND 406 59 35 14 133.6 1 10.8 13 391 1681
22 Avesh Khan LSG IND 22 12 0 4 169.2 17 7.9 11 384 2976
23 Quinton deKock LSG SA 362 80 37 12 136.1 0 - 13 383 2014
24 Tilak Varma MI IND 368 61 27 15 132.9 0 6.5 12 380 511
25 Kuldeep Yadav DC IND 45 16 3 2 91.8 18 8.7 12 373 613
26 Aiden Markram SRH SA 358 68 23 19 141.5 1 10.7 12 369 738
27 Shreyas Iyer KKR IND 351 85 37 8 130.5 0 7 13 366 3825
28 Rishabh Pant DC IND 294 44 31 14 156.4 0 - 12 360 5079
29 Rahul Tripathi SRH IND 317 71 30 16 159.3 0 - 12 360 2474
30 Faf du Plessis RCB SA 399 96 41 13 132.6 0 - 13 359 2414
31 David Miller GT SA 347 94 26 14 136.1 0 - 13 350 245
32 ShimronHetmyer RR WI 291 59 18 21 166.3 0 - 11 350 2776
33 Rahul Chahar PBKS IND 52 22 5 3 118.2 14 8 12 345 1739
34 ShikharDhawan PBKS IND 402 88 42 10 122.9 0 - 12 342 2757
35 T Natarajan SRH IND 0 0 0 0 - 18 8.9 10 342 1225
36 Umran Malik SRH IND 4 3 0 0 57.1 18 9 12 341 1229
37 Jason Holder LSG WI 58 16 2 6 134.9 14 9.2 11 338 2959
38 AbhishekSharma SRH IND 374 75 41 11 134.5 0 9.3 12 334 173
39 Ishan Kishan MI IND 327 81 37 4 117.2 0 - 12 330 5281
40 Khaleel Ahmed DC IND 0 0 0 0 0 16 7.8 8 325 1846
41 Nitish Rana KKR IND 319 57 20 22 139.3 0 14 13 323 2831
42 PrasidKrishna RR IND 6 4 0 0 50 15 8.2 13 323 3538
43 RuturajGaikwad CSK IND 366 99 33 14 128.4 0 - 13 321 2136
44 Dwayne Bravo CSK WI 23 12 1 1 95.8 16 8.7 10 320 1571
45 NicholasPooran SRH WI 263 64 14 18 146.1 0 - 12 319 1379
46 Tim Southee KKR NZ 2 1 0 0 16.7 14 7 8 315 544
47 Shivam Dube CSK IND 289 95 22 16 156.2 0 18 11 307 1489
48 Moeen Ali CSK ENG 151 48 11 8 125.8 7 6.9 9 306 2988
49 SuryakumarYadav MI IND 303 68 23 16 145.7 0 - 8 306 2988
50 Axar Patel DC IND 146 42 10 8 162.2 4 7.8 11 300 3429

  

 

Feature Presentation: Mahipal Soni/Rediff.com

 

PURNENDU MAJI, SRINIVAS BHOGLE