Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji present Rediff.com's Most Valuable performances of IPL 2024
Another IPL is over. With a MVPI of 1055, Sunil Narine was comfortably the most valuable player of IPL 2024.
The story of this IPL is revealed if we look at the top 20 on the MVPI table (Table 1): Eight of the top 10 have a strike rate over 150; and 13 out of the top 20 have a strike rate over 150.
The average strike rate of the top 10 is 171.1; the average strike rate of the top 20 is 163.5.
These are incredible numbers. We are seeing a paradigm shift in how T20 will be played in the future.
A corollary of such a shift is that the Orange and Purple caps are no longer the best indicators of the IPL's best batter and best bowler.
The batter's run aggregate must be coupled judiciously to the strike rate; likewise, the bowler's wicket tally must be coupled with the economy rate.
Fortunately, the Rediff MVPI calculation already employs such a coupling.
So, using the same calculation, we can also identify IPL 2024's five most valuable batters (Table 2), and the five most valuable bowlers (Table 3).
The toppers of Tables 2 and 3, we would like to argue, are the more deserving winners of the Orange and Purple Caps respectively.
Best Performing Players in IPL 2024
| Rank | Player | Team | From | Run | Top Score | 4s | 6s | Strike Rate | Wickets | Economy | Match | MVPI | PVI(US$) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sunil Narine | KKR | WI | 488 | 109 | 50 | 33 | 182.1 | 17 | 6.7 | 14 | 1055 | 685 |
| 2 | Virat Kohli | RCB | IND | 741 | 113 | 62 | 38 | 154.7 | 0 | - | 15 | 857 | 2109 |
| 3 | Abhishek Sharma | SRH | IND | 484 | 75 | 36 | 42 | 204.2 | 2 | 7.3 | 16 | 703 | 1114 |
| 4 | Travis Head | SRH | AUS | 567 | 102 | 64 | 32 | 191.6 | 0 | 19.2 | 15 | 673 | 1217 |
| 5 | Nicholas Pooran | LSG | WI | 499 | 75 | 35 | 36 | 178.2 | 0 | - | 14 | 632 | 3050 |
| 6 | Riyan Parag | RR | IND | 573 | 84 | 40 | 33 | 149.2 | 0 | 9 | 15 | 612 | 748 |
| 7 | Heinrich Klaasen | SRH | SA | 479 | 80 | 19 | 38 | 171.1 | 0 | - | 16 | 607 | 1042 |
| 8 | Sanju Samson | RR | IND | 531 | 86 | 48 | 24 | 153.5 | 0 | - | 15 | 603 | 2797 |
| 9 | Andre Russell | KKR | WI | 222 | 64 | 20 | 16 | 185 | 19 | 10.1 | 14 | 602 | 2802 |
| 10 | Ruturaj Gaikwad | CSK | IND | 583 | 108 | 58 | 18 | 141.2 | 0 | - | 14 | 577 | 1253 |
| 11 | KL Rahul | LSG | IND | 520 | 82 | 45 | 19 | 136.1 | 0 | - | 14 | 569 | 3600 |
| 12 | Rishabh Pant | DC | IND | 446 | 88 | 36 | 25 | 155.4 | 0 | - | 13 | 567 | 3400 |
| 13 | Tristan Stubbs | DC | SA | 378 | 71 | 24 | 26 | 190.9 | 3 | 7.5 | 14 | 567 | 106 |
| 14 | Philip Salt | KKR | ENG | 435 | 89 | 50 | 24 | 165.4 | 0 | - | 12 | 566 | 319 |
| 15 | Axar Patel | DC | IND | 235 | 66 | 19 | 10 | 131.3 | 11 | 7.7 | 14 | 537 | 2692 |
| 16 | Faf du Plessis | RCB | SA | 438 | 64 | 47 | 21 | 161.6 | 0 | - | 15 | 518 | 1628 |
| 17 | B Sai Sudarshan | GT | IND | 527 | 103 | 48 | 16 | 141.3 | 0 | - | 12 | 504 | 48 |
| 18 | Jasprit Bumrah | MI | IND | 12 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 100 | 20 | 6.5 | 13 | 503 | 2874 |
| 19 | J Fraser-McGurk | DC | AUS | 330 | 84 | 32 | 28 | 234 | 0 | - | 9 | 497 | 121 |
| 20 | Pat Cummins | SRH | AUS | 136 | 35 | 9 | 8 | 143.2 | 18 | 9.3 | 16 | 497 | 4970 |
| 21 | Sam Curran | PBKS | ENG | 270 | 63 | 24 | 6 | 123.3 | 16 | 10.1 | 13 | 495 | 4503 |
| 22 | Cameron Green | RCB | AUS | 255 | 46 | 22 | 10 | 143.3 | 10 | 8.6 | 13 | 494 | 4268 |
| 23 | Marcus Stoinis | LSG | AUS | 388 | 124 | 39 | 16 | 147.5 | 4 | 9 | 14 | 487 | 2721 |
| 24 | Ravindra Jadeja | CSK | AUS | 267 | 57 | 22 | 8 | 142 | 8 | 7.9 | 14 | 486 | 3966 |
| 25 | Tilak Varma | MI | IND | 416 | 65 | 35 | 19 | 149.6 | 0 | 12 | 13 | 485 | 422 |
| 26 | Harshal Patel | PBKS | IND | 13 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 68.4 | 24 | 9.7 | 14 | 478 | 2962 |
| 27 | Yashasvi Jaiswal | RR | IND | 435 | 104 | 54 | 16 | 155.9 | 0 | - | 15 | 476 | 1012 |
| 28 | Rajat Patidar | RCB | IND | 395 | 55 | 21 | 33 | 177.1 | 0 | - | 15 | 474 | 51 |
| 29 | Shashank Singh | PBKS | IND | 354 | 68 | 28 | 21 | 164.7 | 1 | 5 | 14 | 468 | 51 |
| 30 | Shivam Dube | CSK | IND | 396 | 66 | 28 | 28 | 162.3 | 1 | 14 | 14 | 451 | 1069 |
| 31 | Varun Chakravarthy | KKR | IND | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 21 | 8 | 14 | 450 | 3213 |
| 32 | Dinesh Karthik | RCB | IND | 326 | 83 | 27 | 22 | 187.4 | 0 | - | 15 | 439 | 1509 |
| 33 | Rohit Sharma | MI | IND | 417 | 105 | 45 | 23 | 150 | 0 | - | 14 | 435 | 4432 |
| 34 | Shubman Gill | GT | IND | 426 | 104 | 37 | 15 | 147.4 | 0 | - | 12 | 425 | 1984 |
| 35 | Shreyas Iyer | KKR | IND | 351 | 58 | 34 | 14 | 146.9 | 0 | - | 14 | 413 | 3574 |
| 36 | Suryakumar Yadav | MI | IND | 345 | 102 | 36 | 18 | 167.5 | 0 | - | 11 | 405 | 2380 |
| 37 | Ishan Kishan | MI | IND | 320 | 69 | 35 | 16 | 148.8 | 0 | - | 14 | 399 | 4605 |
| 38 | Venkatesh Iyer | KKR | IND | 370 | 70 | 35 | 19 | 152.3 | 0 | 28 | 14 | 381 | 2530 |
| 39 | Hardik Pandya | MI | IND | 216 | 46 | 17 | 11 | 143 | 11 | 10.8 | 14 | 374 | 4832 |
| 40 | Abishek Porel | DC | IND | 327 | 65 | 36 | 13 | 159.5 | 0 | - | 14 | 368 | 65 |
| 41 | Harshit Rana | KKR | IND | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 19 | 9.1 | 12 | 363 | 664 |
| 42 | Jos Buttler | RR | ENG | 359 | 107 | 36 | 12 | 140.8 | 0 | - | 11 | 363 | 3319 |
| 43 | Jonny Bairstow | PBKS | ENG | 298 | 108 | 33 | 14 | 152.8 | 0 | - | 11 | 361 | 2253 |
| 44 | Avesh Khan | RR | IND | 10 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 200 | 19 | 9.6 | 15 | 361 | 3337 |
| 45 | Daryl Mitchell | CSK | NZ | 318 | 63 | 27 | 10 | 142.6 | 1 | 11.7 | 13 | 358 | 4712 |
| 46 | Prabhsimran Singh | PBKS | IND | 334 | 71 | 34 | 20 | 156.8 | 0 | - | 14 | 355 | 244 |
| 47 | Trent Boult | RR | NZ | 14 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 87.5 | 16 | 8.3 | 15 | 353 | 2730 |
| 48 | T Natarajan | SRH | IND | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 19 | 9.1 | 14 | 351 | 1373 |
| 49 | Kuldeep Yadav | DC | IND | 47 | 35 | 2 | 0 | 114.6 | 16 | 8.7 | 11 | 348 | 692 |
| 50 | Nithish Reddy | SRH | IND | 303 | 76 | 15 | 21 | 142.9 | 3 | 11.6 | 13 | 347 | 69 |
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.
Table 2 lists the 5 Most Valuable Batters in IPL 2024 obtained by coupling the run tally and strike rate criterion; Table 3 lists the 5 Most Valuable Bowlers obtained by coupling the wicket tally and economy rate.
5 Most Valuable Batters Of IPL 2024
| Rank | Player | Team | From | Runs | Top Score | 4s | 6s | Strike Rate | Batting Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Virat Kohli | RCB | IND | 741 | 113 | 62 | 38 | 154.7 | 763.5 |
| 2 | Travis Head | SRH | AUS | 567 | 102 | 64 | 32 | 191.6 | 690 |
| 3 | Abhishek Sharma | SRH | IND | 484 | 75 | 36 | 42 | 204.2 | 612.5 |
| 4 | Nicholas Pooran | LSG | WI | 499 | 75 | 35 | 36 | 178.2 | 578 |
| 5 | Sunil Narine | KKR | WI | 488 | 109 | 50 | 33 | 182.1 | 574 |
Kohli's Batting Points (763.5) are only marginally higher than his runs (741), because his strike rate is just above par.
This table shows that Kohli would still have comfortably won the 'modified Purple Cap'.
To calculate the batting points we assume a par strike rate of 150.
5 Most Valuable Bowlers Of IPL 2024
| Rank | Player | Team | From | Wickets | Economy | Bowling Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jasprit Bumrah | MI | IND | 20 | 6.5 | 490.5 |
| 2 | Sunil Narine | KKR | WI | 17 | 6.7 | 433 |
| 3 | Varun Chakravarthy | KKR | IND | 21 | 8 | 426 |
| 4 | Harshal Patel | PBKS | IND | 24 | 9.7 | 396 |
| 5 | T Natarajan | SRH | IND | 19 | 9.1 | 339 |
To calculate the bowling points (Bowl Points), we assume that every wicket is worth 18 points, and every bowler is expected to concede 9 runs per over.
So, Bumrah obtains 360 points for his 20 wickets, but also gains 130.5 points more because his economy rate of 6.5 is so much lower than the par of 9 runs per over.
Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff.com
