Rediff.com« Back to articlePrint this article

Analysis: The hits and flops of IPL 5

Last updated on: June 07, 2012 08:39 IST

The fifth edition of the Indian Premier League is over. Kolkata Knight Riders lived up to their top billing, outclassing Chennai Super Kings in the final to win their maiden IPL title.

Purnendu Maji and Srinivas Bhogle present a detailed analysis of the teams that played in the T20 tournament. 

A look at the players who impressed, who disappointed and the few, who were invisble.

We use the Most Valuable Player Index (MVPI) to make our picks. MVPI is just the sum of every player's batting, bowling and fielding points expressed in terms of 'runs'.

Pune Warriors India: (played 16, won 4, lost 12)

Impressive

Without a doubt, Steven Smith was the most impressive, contributing an equivalent of 454 runs at just $441 per run. Smith would have added even more value if he had bowled more and taken a few wickets. Robin Uthappa scored the most runs, but his strike rate (118.1) was poor and at $4639 per run he was far too expensive.

Player's Name Team From Runs Strike Rate Bat Pts W Eco Bowl Pts Field Pts M MVPI Money Offered ($) PVI ($ per run)
Steven Smith PWI AUS 362 135.6 368.0 0 15.0 -2.3 88 15 454 200000 441
Robin Uthappa PWI IND 405 118.1 352.7 0 - 0.0 100 16 453 2100000 4639
Angelo Mathews PWI SL 127 117.6 110.0 7 7.4 128.0 20 9 258 950000 3222
Jesse Ryder PWI NZ 256 120.8 229.3 1 10.0 2.0 16 11 247 150000 606
Marlon Samuels PWI WI 124 100.8 84.0 8 7.5 141.3 0 8 225 100000 277

Disappointing

Ashish Nehra and Murali Kartik were supposed to be strike bowlers, but they simply failed to make the match-winning breakthroughs. Michael Clarke didn't really settle down with perhaps marriage uppermost in his thoughts.

Player's Name Team From Runs Strike Rate Bat Pts W Eco Bowl Pts Field Pts M MVPI Money Offered (US $) PVI ($ per run)
Ashish Nehra PWI IND 11 91.7 6.0 11 8.4 158.0 4 13 168 850000 5060
Murali Kartik PWI IND 26 123.8 24.0 4 7.4 86.0 24 11 134 400000 2985
Michael Clarke PWI AUS 98 104.3 70.7 2 6.1 53.0 4 6 128 1000000 3427

Invisible

A lot of good players hardly got to play. Examples: Wayne Parnell (visible more in a rave party), Callum Ferguson, Alfonso Thomas and Tamim Iqbal. PWI had too many foreign players combined with a wrong balance and mix.

Deccan Chargers: (played 16, won 4, lost 11, no result 1)

Impressive

Player's Name Team From Runs Strike Rate Bat Pts W Eco Bowl Pts Field Pts M MVPI Money Offered (US $) PVI ($ per run)
Shikhar Dhawan DC IND 569 129.6 552.7 3 9.2 41.0 36 15 630 300000 476
Cameron White DC AUS 479 149.7 531.3 0 8.0 0.0 12 13 543 1100000 2025
Dale Steyn DC SA 19 90.5 10.0 18 6.1 376.3 16 12 402 1200000 2983
Jean-Paul Duminy DC SA 244 128.4 234.7 1 8.7 8.0 24 9 267 300000 1125
Daniel Christian DC AUS 145 122.9 132.7 8 8.8 107.0 24 7 264 900000 3413

Shikhar Dhawan scored a lot of runs and provided solidity; at $476 per run he provided excellent value. Cameron White justified his high price tag by rediscovering his form and batting explosively with a strike rate of almost 150.

Dale Steyn bowled with fire and provided IPL5's best bowling moments. JP Duminy and Daniel Christian created a few impressive moments but didn't play enough or even do enough.

Disappointing

Player's Name Team From Runs Strike Rate Bat Pts W Eco Bowl Pts Field Pts M MVPI Money Offered (US $) PVI ($ per run)
Parthiv Patel DC IND 194 117.6 168.0 0 - 0.0 48 14 216 650000 3009
Kumar Sangakkara DC SL 200 108.7 154.7 0 - 0.0 36 12 191 700000 3442
Manpreet Gony DC IND 4 50.0 -2.7 3 8.6 33.0 4 6 34 290000 8447

Kumar Sangakkara failed repeatedly with the bat and looked lost both as a player and captain. Parthiv Patel is going downhill and Manpreet Gony did almost nothing right (it was a stroke of luck that earned him an India cap and therefore a princely price of $290,000).

Invisible

The Deccan Chargers had practically no bench strength (remember they sold Kevin Pietersen?) but should have found more opportunities for Rusty Theron who played rather well for Kings XI Punjab in earlier years.

Rajasthan Royals (played 16, won 7, lost 9)

Impressive

Ajinkya Rahane started very well, but lost it a bit towards the end (he has started poorly in West Indies too); but no owner can quibble when a player offers you a run for just $75!

Shane Watson came in too late to rescue the Royals, but he still provided immense value in spite of his high price tag. Rahul Dravid did almost everything right, but just didn't have enough quality on the bench. Owais Shah and Brad Hodge provide value but not enough victories.

Player's Name Team From Runs Strike Rate Bat Pts W Eco Bowl Pts Field Pts M MVPI Money Offered (US $) PVI ($ per run)
Ajinkya Rahane RR IND 560 129.3 542.7 0 - 0.0 44 16 587 44000 75
Shane Watson RR AUS 255 151.8 286.0 6 7.0 119.0 8 7 413 1300000 1377
Rahul Dravid RR IND 462 112.1 374.7 0 - 0.0 36 16 411 500000 1218
Owais Shah RR ENG 340 132.8 338.7 0 - 0.0 36 13 375 200000 534
Brad Hodge RR AUS 245 140.0 256.7 1 10.5 11.0 28 12 296 475000 1607

Disappointing

Johan Botha seemed unsettled; he didn't bat well enough to hold his place on a regular basis. Ashok Menaria was hailed as an attacking batting prospect by Dravid himself, but failed to fire. Shreevats Goswami, who once sparred with his captain Virat Kohli in the India -Under 19 team, now seems to be going Parthiv Patel's way.

Player's Name Team From Runs Strike Rate Bat Pts W Eco Bowl Pts Field Pts M MVPI Money Offered (US $) PVI ($ per run)
Johan Botha RR SA 58 107.4 44.0 9 7.2 175.0 12 11 231 950000 4113
Ashok Menaria RR IND 220 108.9 170.7 1 6.9 19.7 8 15 198 22000 111
Shreevats Goswami RR IND 69 103.0 48.7 0 - 0.0 40 11 89 44000 496

Invisible

We didn't see enough of Shaun Tait and the Rajasthan challenge was never the same when Kevon Cooper disappeared with injury.

Kings XI Punjab (played 16, won 8, lost 8)

Impressive

David Hussey proved to be a good captain, perhaps even better than Adam Gilchrist. He scored a lot of runs but they came at a high price because of his $1.4 million purse. Shaun Marsh was again impressive, when not injured. Azhar Mehmood provided splendid balance and Mandeep Singh and Parvinder Awana were revelations. Let us hope they don't fade away.

Player's Name Team From Runs Strike Rate Bat Pts W Eco Bowl Pts Field Pts M MVPI Money Offered (US $) PVI ($ per run)
David Hussey KXI AUS 396 129.8 385.3 3 7.0 57.0 24 16 466 1400000 3002
Azhar Mahmood KXI ENG 186 131.0 182.7 14 7.7 236.3 28 11 447 200000 391
Mandeep Singh KXI IND 432 126.3 408.0 0 - 0.0 20 16 428 22000 51
Shaun Marsh KXI AUS 336 120.0 298.7 0 - 0.0 56 13 355 400000 1128
Parvinder Awana KXI IND 4 80.0 1.3 17 7.9 276.0 28 12 305 44000 144

Disappointing

Adam Gilchrist disappointed by his own lofty standards. In earlier years, despite a high price tag, Gichrist always cost less than $1000 per run; now he's close to $5000 per run! Praveen Kumar never looked lethal.

Paul Valthaty crashed tragically and Abhishek Nayar was a colossal disaster! Just a lucky India cap fetched him a price tag of $800,000!

Player's Name Team From Runs Strike Rate Bat Pts W Eco Bowl Pts Field Pts M MVPI Money Offered (US $) PVI ($ per run)
Praveen Kumar KXI IND 35 116.7 30.0 9 6.9 214.0 20 16 264 800000 3030
Adam Gilchrist KXI AUS 172 120.3 153.3 0 - 0.0 28 7 181 900000 4963
Paul Valthaty KXI IND 30 58.8 -8.0 0 16.0 -8.0 0 6 -16 44000 -2750
Abhishek Nayar KXI IND 45 91.8 24.7 0 16.0 -8.0 0 4 17 800000 48000

Invisible

Ramesh Powar played only one match and got hit all over the park. R Sathish too seemed to be hibernating somewhere; he was a good ICL player and had his IPL moments too in an earlier season.

Royal Challengers Bangalore (played 16, won 8, lost 7, no result 1)

Impressive

Chris Gayle had his best IPL, surpassed all expectations, hit 59 sixes, but even this wasn't enough to take RCB into the semi-finals. 'On paper' AB de Villiers, was paid twice as much as Gayle and performed half as well … but even that was quite an outstanding effort (remember he kept wickets too!).

Virat Kohli was either tired, or took things lightly, but, in his present form, even that added up to a reasonable contribution (don't forget he captained about half the matches too). Zaheer Khan took a lot of wickets and seemed to fire selectively (but has he forgotten how to bat?). Muralitharan did well whenever he was played and offered excellent value with a PVI of just 714.

Player's Name Team From Runs Strike Rate Bat Pts W Eco Bowl Pts Field Pts M MVPI Money Offered (US $) PVI ($ per run)
Chris Gayle RCB WI 733 160.7 858.0 0 14.1 -28.7 8 14 837 550000 657
AB de Villiers RCB SA 317 160.1 370.0 0 - 0.0 84 15 454 1100000 2423
Virat Kohli RCB IND 364 111.7 293.3 0 16.3 -25.0 52 15 320 1800000 5619
Zaheer Khan RCB IND 12 70.6 1.3 17 7.6 299.0 20 15 320 900000 2810
M Muralitharan RCB SL 6 66.7 0.0 15 6.5 300.0 8 10 308 220000 714

Disappointing

Vinay Kumar had his good moments, but performed disappointingly, especially given that he was the local boy.

Dilshan's strike rate was a puzzle; he was probably confused about his role, and worried about holding his place, and Vettori just didn't get enough wickets to hold his place. Lady Luck once smiled on Saurabh Tiwary when he was bought for an astronomical sum but his happy days will end unless he re-architects his batting.

Player's Name Team From Runs Strike Rate Bat Pts W Eco Bowl Pts Field Pts M MVPI Money Offered (US $) PVI ($ per run)
Vinay Kumar RCB IND 68 109.7 53.3 19 8.6 270.7 40 14 364 1000000 2747
Tillakaratne Dilshan RCB SL 285 109.2 222.0 0 11.0 -21.0 20 9 221 650000 2941
Saurabh Tiwary RCB IND 191 112.4 155.3 0 - 0.0 20 14 175 1600000 9125
Daniel Vettori RCB NZ 31 119.2 27.3 5 6.7 124.0 12 9 163 550000 3367

Invisible

Andrew McDonald was wasted, Charles Langeveldt had nothing to do, Dirk Nannes blogged more than he played, and poor Luke Pomersbach was visible more on TV channels than on the playing field. Some of these players should opt for Indian passports!

Mumbai Indians (played 17, won 10, lost 7)

Impressive

Kieron Pollard's strike rate dropped, he scored fewer runs, hit fewer sixes (14) but he did manage to take a lot of wickets and field exceptionally. Lasith Malinga is a T20 natural and finds it easy to blow away wickets, especially of IPL's many mediocre batsmen.

Rohit Sharma was MI's best batsman (but why didn't his captain ask him to bowl? He has an IPL hat-trick and just took four wickets for India A in West Indies). Ambati Rayadu and James Franklin did well; better still, they cost less than $200 per run!

Player's Name Team From Runs Strike Rate Bat Pts W Eco Bowl Pts Field Pts M MVPI Money Offered (US $) PVI ($ per run)
Kieron Pollard MI WI 220 138.4 228.0 16 8.0 256.7 48 14 533 900000 1690
Lasith Malinga MI SL 55 103.8 39.3 22 6.3 446.0 24 14 509 500000 982
Rohit Sharma MI IND 433 126.6 410.0 0 16.0 -8.0 68 17 470 2000000 4255
Ambati Rayudu MI IND 333 132.1 330.0 0 - 0.0 24 17 354 66000 186
James Franklin MI NZ 220 98.7 142.7 6 8.1 95.0 16 12 254 50000 197

Disappointing

There was a time when Harbhajan Singh was both an attacking batsman and bowler. Now he may be neither with just over 100 runs and only 6 wickets in 17 matches! He wasn't even an attacking captain.

Sachin Tendulkar didn't look like Sachin Tendulkar of the old perhaps because of his changed hairstyle. Dinesh Karthik was capable of more, and it is hard to believe that R P Singh once wore the purple cap.

Player's Name Team From Runs Strike Rate Bat Pts W Eco Bowl Pts Field Pts M MVPI Money Offered (US $) PVI ($ per run)
Harbhajan Singh MI IND 108 135.0 109.3 6 7.1 144.0 44 17 297 1300000 4372
Sachin Tendulkar MI IND 324 114.5 270.7 0 - 0.0 0 13 271 1800000 6650
Dinesh Karthik MI IND 238 111.7 192.0 0 - 0.0 60 17 252 900000 3571
RP Singh MI IND 6 50.0 -4.0 10 7.8 170.0 24 11 190 600000 3158

Invisible

Why do Mumbai Indians contract so many foreign players and consign them to the bench? Richard Levi, Herschelle Gibbs and Robin Pieterson only had brief outings; Clint McKay and Thisara Perera made fleeting appearances and Mitchell Johnson was a complete no show.

Delhi Daredevils (played 18, won 11, lost 7)

Impressive

Virender Sehwag started tentatively, and ended lamely. But there was a phase in the middle when he was in magical form. When the going was good, Sehwag's Daredevils were very good. But when it came to the crunch they choked and made fatal selection errors.

Morne Morkel was mostly brilliant, Umesh Yadav continued to bowl fast and take wickets without breaking down and Pietersen displayed consistency, ability and passion. David Warner was just a notch below Kevin Pietersen: he could be as explosive, but never seemed as solid.

Player's Name Team From Runs Strike Rate Bat Pts W Eco Bowl Pts Field Pts M MVPI Money Offered (US $) PVI ($ per run)
Virender Sehwag DD IND 495 161.2 580.7 0 11.3 -13.0 44 16 612 1800000 2943
Morne Morkel DD SA 3 60.0 -0.7 25 7.2 451.0 4 16 454 475000 1045
Umesh Yadav DD IND 2 28.6 -5.3 19 7.4 340.0 24 17 359 750000 2091
Kevin Pietersen DD ENG 305 147.3 334.0 0 8.8 -5.0 28 8 357 650000 1024
David Warner DD AUS 256 164.1 304.0 0 - 0.0 12 8 316 750000 1187

Disappointing

Why is Irfan Pathan in this list? Because given the number of opportunities he got, and his expensive price tag, he should have done much more: he didn't get enough wickets, was often expensive and chose the wrong day to get injured.

Mahela Jayawardene looked good, but couldn't finish things off, Ross Taylor got more chances than he deserved and Venugopal Rao never seemed capable of rising to the occasion; at $7000 per run he was also rather expensive.

Player's Name Team From Runs Strike Rate Bat Pts W Eco Bowl Pts Field Pts M MVPI Money Offered (US $) PVI ($ per run)
Irfan Pathan DD IND 176 139.7 184.0 8 7.8 143.0 40 17 367 1900000 5177
M Jayawardene DD SL 335 112.4 272.7 0 - 0.0 40 16 313 1400000 3918
Ross Taylor DD NZ 197 115.2 166.0 0 - 0.0 12 12 178 1000000 4565
Venugopal Rao DD IND 132 104.8 96.0 0 13.0 -10.0 16 10 102 700000 6863

Invisible

Roelof van der Merwe, Aaron Finch were almost invisible and Travis Birt and Colin Ingram were completely invisible. The experienced Ajit Agarkar might have been a better choice than the erratic Varun Aaron in the crucial matches.

Chennai Super Kings (played 19, won 10, lost 8, no result 1)

Impressive

Dwayne Bravo had his best IPL year: lot of runs, a very good strike rate and plenty of wickets too and at less than $300 per run. Suresh Raina seemed jaded initially but recovered later; but this was his poorest IPL.

Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was his usual unhurried self (some of us thought he delayed matters a bit too much), but performed when he had to. Faf du Plassis offered incredible value at $284 per run and Michael Hussey's arrival steadied the rocking CSK ship.

Player's Name Team From Runs Strike Rate Bat Pts W Eco Bowl Pts Field Pts M MVPI Money Offered (US $) PVI ($ per run)
Dwayne Bravo CSK WI 371 140.5 390.0 15 8.0 239.3 68 18 697 200000 287
Suresh Raina CSK IND 441 135.7 448.7 2 7.5 39.0 40 18 528 1300000 2464
MS Dhoni CSK IND 358 128.8 345.3 0 - 0.0 104 18 449 1800000 4006
Faf du Plessis CSK SA 398 130.9 390.7 0 16.0 -8.0 40 12 423 120000 284
Michael Hussey CSK AUS 261 110.6 207.3 0 - 0.0 8 8 215 425000 863

Disappointing

It is fashionable to say that Ravindra Jadeja is over-valued, but that is indeed a good approximation to the truth. Players like Jadeja (and Robin Uthappa) always seem to do enough to stay in the reckoning, but never enough to win. Murali Vijay was a victim of bad form and came good only at the very end.

Subramaniam Badrinath never looked like a game-changer and seemed highly over-priced. Doug Bollinger surrendered his opening bowler's place to compatriot Ben Hilfenhaus after a very indifferent IPL5.

Player's Name Team From Runs Strike Rate Bat Pts W Eco Bowl Pts Field Pts M MVPI Money Offered (US $) PVI ($ per run)
Ravindra Jadeja CSK IND 191 126.5 180.7 12 7.8 199.0 28 18 408 2000000 4906
Murali Vijay CSK IND 336 125.8 316.0 0 - 0.0 24 14 340 900000 2647
S Badrinath CSK IND 196 108.3 150.7 0 - 0.0 4 14 155 850000 5496
Doug Bollinger CSK AUS 3 60.0 -0.7 8 8.7 115.0 24 6 138 700000 5060

Invisible

George Bailey (Australia's current T20 captain!), Scott Styris and Suraj Randiv didn't play a single match (Randiv didn't play even against Sehwag!). The talented Wriddhiman Saha also appeared far too intermittently.

Kolkata Knight Riders (played 18, won 12, lost 5, no result 1)

Impressive

Besides being the winning captain, Gautam Gambhir scored a lot of runs at an excellent strike rate (after this performance he should be the front-runner for the India vice-captain position, ahead of Virat Kohli). Jacques Kallis scored a lot of runs and took a lot of wickets (although his strike and economy rates betray either an ageing player or a test player of the highest pedigree).

Sunil Narine's mystery endured right through; he took the most wickets at the best economy rate! Shakib-Al-Hasan displayed cool and Manvinder Bisla had to make it to this list after helping his team win the big final!

Player's Name Team From Runs Strike Rate Bat Pts W Eco Bowl Pts Field Pts M MVPI Money Offered (US $) PVI ($ per run)
Gautam Gambhir KKR IND 590 143.6 632.0 0 - 0.0 56 17 688 2400000 3488
Jacques Kallis KKR SA 409 106.5 306.0 15 7.5 269.0 16 17 591 1100000 1861
Sunil Narine KKR WI 9 128.6 8.7 24 5.5 533.3 12 15 554 700000 1264
Shakib Al Hasan KKR BAN 91 123.0 83.3 12 6.5 237.0 0 8 320 425000 1327
Manvinder Bisla KKR IND 213 133.1 212.7 0 - 0.0 40 7 253 66000 261

Disappointing

Brendon McCullum's strike rate dropped; it is hard to believe that the same batsman ushered in the inaugural IPL game with such ferocity and skill! Brett Lee is fading; not enough wickets and an unacceptably high economy rate!

And what is one to say of the collapse of Yusuf Pathan's form? Surely he can no longer tell Shahrukh Khan Main Hoon Na (I am there too)? At over $9000 per run Yusuf appears to be an unaffordable luxury at most times.

Player's Name Team From Runs Strike Rate Bat Pts W Eco Bowl Pts Field Pts M MVPI Money Offered (US $) PVI ($ per run)
Brendon McCullum KKR NZ 289 102.1 200.7 0 - 0.0 92 12 293 900000 3075
Yusuf Pathan KKR IND 194 114.8 162.7 3 8.3 42.0 28 17 233 2100000 9026
Brett Lee KKR AUS 42 210.0 57.3 7 7.9 117.0 24 10 198 400000 2017

Invisible

Ryan ten Doeschate hardly got an outing, Marchant de Lange too mostly warmed the bench. Eoin Morgan reached every corner of India except the playing field. And Shami Ahmed was invisibly imbibing the KKR winning spirit; he's just played a fine role in India A's win over West Indies A in the first unofficial Test match in Barbados.

Purnendu Maji and Srinivas Bhogle