IPL 2023: Which Country Players Had A Dream Run?

The players of which country had the best IPL 2023? Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji find out.

The IPL still isn't over, but we already enough data to respond to a question like: The players of which country had the best IPL 2023?

We will make this assessment using the Most Valuable Player Index (MVPI).

Recall that batters who score a lot of runs at the highest strike rate, bowlers who take the most wickets at the lowest economy rate, and fielders who take the most catches or effect the most run outs have the highest MVPI aggregates.

The method we propose (it is imperfect!) is to look at the top five players from every country and compute their average MVPI.

We then compare with the average money paid to these top five players to reach a reasonable verdict.

1. India

It can't be a surprise that that the best IPL players are from India because 7/11 players in every team are Indians.

The average MVPI of the top five Indian players is 675.

The average money paid to each player in the top five is Rs 8.80 crores/Rs 88 million ($1.062 million)

2. South Africa

The average MVPI of the top five South African players is 436, and the average money paid to each player in the top five is Rs 4.87 crores/Rs 48.7 million ($0.588 million)

3. Australia

The average MVPI of the top five Australian players is 474; a little higher than South Africa's 436, but the average money paid to each Australian player in the top five is much higher at Rs 9.19 crores/Rs 91.9 million ($1.109 million).

We are therefore putting Australia below South Africa.

4. West Indies

The average MVPI of the top five West Indian players is 366, and the average money paid to each West Indian player in the top five is Rs 9.19 crores/Rs 91.9 million ($1.038 million)

5. England

The average MVPI of the top England players is 366, and the average money paid to each English player in the top five is Rs 10 crores/Rs 100 million ($1.207 million).

We are putting England below the West Indies because their players tend to be more expensive (and other expensive players like Ben Stokes and Harry Brook aren't in the top five list)

6. Afghanistan

The average MVPI of the top five Afghan players is 302, and the average money paid to each Afghan player in the top five is Rs 3.36 crores/Rs 33.6 million ($0.406 million).

To be honest, Rashid Khan completely skews the table. But he has also delivered matching performances.

7. New Zealand

The average MVPI of the top five NZ players is 239, and the average money paid to each of these five NZ players is Rs 2.68 crores/Rs 26.8 million ($0.323 million).

This may not be a fair rating because only the top two NZ players got enough games.

The most expensive NZ player, Lockie Ferguson, warmed the KKR bench most of the time with a price of Rs 10 crores (Rs 100 million)!

8. Sri Lanka

This is been a poor IPL for Sri Lanka, with only Matheesha Pathirana dazzling.

Wanindu Hasaranga, who did so well last time, had a modest year.

The IPL performance may not be a true indicator because Sri Lanka under Dasun Shanaka's leadership are on their way to becoming a rather good team.

The average MVPI of the top five SL players is 165, and the average money paid to each of these five SL players is Rs 2.53 crores/Rs 25.3 million ($0.305 million).

This is significantly skewed by Hasaranga's price.

• IPL 2023

Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com