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Gayle leads MVP race, de Villiers not far behind

Last updated on: March 01, 2015 14:20 IST

Chris Gayle has blasted his way to the top Rediff.com's Most Valuable Players ratings for the World Cup with his Royal Challengers team-mate South African A B de Villiers close on his heels. Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji present the updated MVP rankings!

Chris Gayle

Chris Gayle celebrates his double century against Zimbabwe at the Manuka Oval. Photograph: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

This can't be a surprise -- after their thundering knocks Chris Gayle and A B de Villiers have raced to the two top positions in the Most Valuable Player Index, MVPI, at the ongoing ICC World Cup.

MVPI collapses a player's batting + bowling + fielding performance into a single 'run equivalent'.

So, Gayle's 258 runs, including the first-ever double century in a World Cup, coupled with his five wickets and three catches is equivalent to a batsman having scored 457 'runs'.

South Africa Captain de Villiers, who smashed a record 162 from 66 balls

The MVPI formula picks out batsmen who score a lot of runs at a high strike rate; bowlers who take a lot of wickets at a low economy rate and fielders who take the most catches or participate in the most run out dismissals.

It does not award any points for good captaincy, or for good wicket-keeping (although wicket-keepers do gain an advantage because they participate in many more dismissals).

With four consecutive victories, including the thrilling one-wicket win against Australia in Auckland on February 28, New Zealand players continue to dominate the table.

Kiwi pacer Tim Southee with the World Cup's highest haul of 13 wickets, and Captain Brendon McCullum with 207 runs at an astonishing strike rate of 188.2 are respectively ranked third and fourth.

India has three big wins, yet no player is really standing out. India opener Shikhar Dhawan (MVPI of 264 and rank 8) is the top ranked Indian player, followed by off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin (240; 12), in-form batsman Virat Kohli (193; 24) and pacer Mohammed Shami (182; 28).

There is only one Australian player -- left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc (223; 18), in the top 20, but this is partly because of the abandoned game against Bangladesh because of rain. Opener Aaron Finch (191; 25) is the only other Australian player in the top 30.

You have to really scroll down the table to spot players from England or Pakistan. Only all-rounder Moeen Ali (242; 13) and pace bowler Chris Woakes (163; 34) are in the top 40.

And incredibly enough, no Pakistan player is in the top 50 and just three players figure in the top 100.

Table: Most valuable players so far in 2015 World Cup (after 21 matches, as on midnight of February 28, 2015):

Rank Player Team Runs 4s 6s Strike Rate W Eco Ct St Run Outs M MVPI
1 Chris Gayle WI 258 13 17 112.2 5 5.4 3 0 4 457
2 AB de Villiers SA 217 21 9 155.0 0 0.0 4 3 3 412
3 Tim Southee NZ 0 0 0 0.0 13 4.9 1 0 4 333
4 Brendon McCullum NZ 207 28 11 188.2 0 0.0 1 0 4 327
5 Daniel Vettori NZ 10 1 0 142.9 8 3.3 4 0 4 293
6 Corey Anderson NZ 112 11 3 107.7 6 4.8 0 0 4 290
7 Trent Boult NZ 0 0 0 0.0 10 4.0 0 0 4 284
8 Shikhar Dhawan IND 224 26 3 93.7 0 0.0 3 0 3 264
9 Shaiman Anwar UAE 208 25 2 114.3 0 0.0 0 0 3 264
10 Tillakaratne Dilshan SL 185 24 0 98.4 2 5.4 0 0 3 258
11 David Miller SA 180 9 9 137.4 0 0.0 1 0 3 256
12 Imran Tahir SA 8 1 0 80.0 9 4.3 0 0 3 254
13 Moeen Ali ENG 158 18 5 117.0 2 5.6 0 0 3 242
14 R Ashwin IND 6 0 0 100.0 8 3.8 0 0 3 240
15 Josh Davey SCOT 21 1 0 48.8 9 5.3 2 0 3 234
16 Sean Williams ZIM 160 17 1 115.1 2 6.4 1 0 3 229
17 Jerome Taylor WI 15 2 0 83.3 9 5.6 1 0 4 226
18 Mitchell Starc AUS 0 0 0 0.0 8 4.2 2 0 2 223
19 Shapoor Zadran AFG 15 2 0 115.4 7 3.9 0 0 3 223
20 Kumar Sangakkara SL 151 19 1 118.9 0 0.0 5 0 3 221
21 Andre Russell WI 69 6 5 237.9 5 6.6 2 0 4 205
22 Lendl Simmons WI 152 13 7 115.2 0 12.0 2 0 4 197
23 Marlon Samuels WI 192 16 4 74.4 2 6.5 0 0 4 196
24 Virat Kohli IND 186 16 0 81.9 0 0.0 2 0 3 193
25 Aaron Finch AUS 149 13 4 110.4 0 0.0 1 0 2 191
26 Angelo Mathews SL 90 7 0 67.7 4 5.6 1 1 3 188
27 Paul Stirling IRL 95 9 3 102.2 2 3.8 1 0 2 188
28 Mohammed Shami IND 7 1 0 87.5 6 3.8 1 0 2 182
29 Amjad Javed UAE 69 8 1 116.9 4 5.8 1 0 3 178
30 Shakib Al Hasan BAN 109 10 2 99.1 2 5.2 0 0 2 173
31 Richie Berrington SCOT 83 6 1 59.7 5 5.5 0 0 3 167
32 Jean-Paul Duminy SA 121 9 3 105.2 1 5.6 1 0 2 167
33 Kane Williamson NZ 149 17 2 85.6 0 7.0 3 0 4 166
34 Chris Woakes ENG 39 2 0 84.8 5 5.3 1 0 3 163
35 Mohit Sharma IND 0 0 0 0.0 5 3.9 0 0.5 3 161
36 Mushfiqur Rahim BAN 107 8 2 112.6 0 0.0 0 1 2 160
37 Mitchell Marsh AUS 23 3 0 104.5 5 4.4 0 0 2 159
38 Hamid Hassan AFG 15 1 0 33.3 6 4.8 1 0 3 155
39 Suranga Lakmal SL 7 0 0 41.2 6 5.3 2 0 3 153
40 Brendan Taylor ZIM 124 11 3 93.9 0 0.0 3 0 3 153
41 Steven Finn ENG 2 0 0 13.3 8 7.0 0 0 3 151
42 Craig Ervine ZIM 107 9 4 113.8 0 0.0 3 0 3 151
43 Darren Sammy WI 124 12 5 117.0 1 6.8 0 0 4 150
44 Ed Joyce IRL 121 13 2 104.3 0 0.0 1 0 2 150
45 Mohammad Nabi AFG 66 7 1 90.4 2 5.1 1 1 3 149
46 Jason Holder WI 56 3 4 116.7 5 6.6 1 0 4 148
47 Faf du Plessis SA 141 8 1 81.5 0 0.0 1 0 3 143
48 Morne Morkel SA 2 0 0 40.0 6 5.6 1 0 3 141
49 Suresh Raina IND 80 6 3 131.1 0 4.5 6 0 3 140
50 Lasith Malinga SL 0 0 0 0.0 6 5.6 1 0 3 138
51 Umesh Yadav IND 0 0 0 0.0 4 4.4 2 0.5 3 136
52 Glenn Maxwell AUS 67 11 0 155.8 1 8.0 0 1 2 133
53 James Taylor ENG 115 11 2 97.5 0 0.0 0 0 3 132
54 Mashrafe Mortaza BAN 21 4 0 131.3 3 3.8 1 0 2 131
55 Alasdair Evans SCOT 37 5 0 71.2 3 3.8 0 0 2 130
56 Lahiru Thirimanne SL 117 11 0 84.2 0 0.0 2 0 3 128
57 Sohail Khan PAK 8 1 0 44.4 6 6.4 0 0 2 123
58 Dawlat Zadran AFG 13 2 0 43.3 4 3.8 0 0 2 123
59 Mohd Naveed UAE 42 3 3 120.0 4 6.6 1 0 3 122
60 Thisara Perera SL 47 6 1 180.8 2 5.3 1 0 2 122
61 Niall O'Brien IRL 96 12 0 114.3 0 0.0 0 0 2 122
62 Brad Haddin AUS 74 9 2 134.5 0 0.0 3 0 2 117
63 George Dockrell IRL 7 1 0 140.0 4 5.2 2 0 2 116
64 Majid Haq SCOT 46 6 0 59.7 3 4.9 2 0 3 116
65 Samiullah Shenwari AFG 176 14 5 60.3 0 4.7 1 0 3 116
66 Misbah-ul-Haq PAK 83 10 1 79.0 0 0.0 2 1 2 114
67 Denesh Ramdin WI 74 9 0 77.1 0 0.0 9 0 4 113
68 Ajinkya Rahane IND 79 7 3 129.5 0 0.0 1 0 3 112
69 Kevin O'Brien IRL 50 8 2 192.3 3 8.3 2 0 2 111
70 Mirwais Ashraf AFG 38 1 3 80.9 2 3.7 0 0 2 110
71 Gary Wilson IRL 81 9 0 108.0 0 0.0 2 0 2 110
72 Ravindra Jadeja IND 5 0 0 55.6 4 5.0 1 0 3 108
73 H Masakadza ZIM 86 8 2 93.5 1 6.5 0 0 3 108
74 Dwayne Smith WI 72 11 1 82.8 0 0.0 2 1 4 107
75 Martin Guptill NZ 99 13 1 88.4 0 0.0 0 0 4 105
76 M Jayawardene SL 100 8 1 80.6 0 0.0 1 0 3 102
77 MS Dhoni IND 36 4 1 150.0 0 0.0 5 1 3 102
78 Rangana Herath SL 13 2 0 68.4 2 4.2 3 0 3 99
79 Luke Ronchi NZ 47 6 1 130.6 0 0.0 7 0 4 99
80 Hashim Amla SA 98 4 1 69.0 0 0.0 4 0 3 98
81 Adam Milne NZ 1 0 0 20.0 3 4.7 3 0 4 96
82 Sikandar Raza ZIM 77 12 1 100.0 0 4.7 0 0 3 95
83 Mohammad Tauqir UAE 3 0 0 42.9 4 5.3 0 0 3 94
84 Matt Machan SCOT 92 12 1 80.7 0 5.5 1 0 3 93
85 Soumya Sarkar BAN 53 8 1 132.5 0 4.3 1 0.5 2 92
86 Rilee Rossouw SA 61 6 1 156.4 0 0.0 0 0 1 90
87 Eoin Morgan ENG 63 5 2 70.8 0 0.0 2 1 3 87
88 Kyle Coetzer SCOT 97 16 0 71.9 0 6.3 1 0 3 83
89 Jeevan Mendis SL 13 1 0 61.9 2 3.6 3 0 2 81
90 Umar Akmal PAK 59 5 1 78.7 0 0.0 0 1 2 81
91 Tendai Chatara ZIM 22 2 0 71.0 4 6.3 0 0 3 80
92 Javed Ahmadi AFG 76 12 0 100.0 0 6.9 0 0 3 78
93 Khurram Khan UAE 95 9 0 69.9 0 0.0 0 0 3 77
94 Rohit Sharma IND 72 12 1 88.9 0 0.0 0 0 3 77
95 Matthew Cross SCOT 52 4 0 68.4 0 0.0 7 0 3 76
96 Ian Bell ENG 98 7 0 66.7 0 0.0 0 0 3 74
97 Iain Wardlaw SCOT 1 0 0 33.3 4 6.1 1 0 3 73
98 Jos Buttler ENG 37 5 0 112.1 0 0.0 5 0 3 72
99 Grant Elliott NZ 58 7 0 87.9 0 5.5 2 0 4 69
100 David Warner AUS 56 5 1 93.3 0 0.0 1 0 2 67

Team ' Runs (scored) ' 4s ' 6s ' Strike rate ' W: Wickets taken ' Eco: Economy rate 'Ct St: Catches, stumpings ' Run outs ' M: Matches played ' 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.

But it is important that this is a long World Cup (some might argue that it is unnecessarily long) and the first few weeks are largely inconsequential.

So, you can expect many more twists and turns when we head into the knockout rounds, starting with the quarter-finals in a couple of weeks.

Earlier...Southee leads World Cup MVP race. Dhawan 4th

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Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji, for Rediff.com