News APP

NewsApp (Free)

Read news as it happens
Download NewsApp

Available on  gplay

This article was first published 14 years ago
Rediff.com  » Cricket » IPL: Who's giving the best value for money so far?

IPL: Who's giving the best value for money so far?

By Srinivas Bhogle
April 21, 2009 18:26 IST
Get Rediff News in your Inbox:

It's still very early days in IPL2, and really too early to talk seriously of the paisa vasool index (PVI).

But some numbers have started coming in, and we decided to share them with Rediff.com readers. These are still not significant numbers; it's a little like the leads data at 8:15 a.m. after election counting starts at 8:00 a.m.

When we look at the top 10 names with the best (lowest) PVI, we see the usual suspects: Karan Goel, Pragyan Ojha, Harmeet Singh, Manpreet Gony and other young Indian cricketers. In fact, here's that list below:

Player Team Country Price PVI
Karan Goel KXI IND 30000* 43
Pragyan Ojha DC IND 30000* 47
Harmeet Singh DC IND 30000* 82
M Gony CSK IND 30000* 94
L Balaji CSK IND 30000* 115
D Mascarenhas RR ENG 100000 133
Laxmi Shukla KKR IND 30000* 134
Abhishek Nayar MI IND 100000 136
Ashok Dinda KKR IND 30000* 143
Shikhar Dhawan MI IND 30000* 161

*2008 prices, cannot confirm if 2009 prices have changed

While some of these players have indeed been impressive - recall Karan Goel's blazing start against Delhi Daredevils, or Abhishek Nayar's three sixes off Andrew Flintoff - the real reason why they figure at the top of the list is because they are so low-priced.

Where, for example is Matthew Hayden after two good knocks? He's not there because he's priced $375,000, and that raises his PVI to 376.

376 is actually an unbelievably good PVI. Our 2008 analysis suggested that auctioned players with a PVI below 1000 could be classified as 'outstanding', between 1000-1500 as 'excellent'; even 1500-2000 was 'good' enough.

Let's therefore look at the PVI of the 30 best performing players (with highest MVPI) so far in 2009.

Player Team From Runs Strike Rate W Eco M MVPI Money ($) PVI
M Hayden CSK AUS 109 155.7 0 - 2 143 375000 376
Rahul Dravid BRC IND 86 130.3 0 - 2 109 1035000 1363
Anil Kumble BRC IND 1 20.0 5 4.3 2 98 500000 733
A Flintoff CSK ENG 46 127.8 2 7.9 2 83 1550000 2684
MS Dhoni CSK IND 52 130.0 0 - 2 70 1500000 3083
Praveen Kumar BRC IND 8 61.5 4 6.3 2 68 300000 628
RP Singh DC IND 0 - 4 6.0 1 66 875000 954
M Muralitharan CSK SL 0 - 3 2.8 1 64 600000 1205
Sachin Tendulkar MI IND 59 120.4 0 - 1 61 1121250 1318
Lasith Malinga MI SL 0 - 3 3.8 1 60 350000 417
Daniel Vettori DD NZ 0 - 3 5.0 1 60 625000 744
Virender Sehwag DD IND 38 237.5 0 - 1 56 833750 1063
D Mascarenhas RR ENG 0 0.0 3 5.0 1 54 100000 133
Sanath Jayasuriya MI SL 26 130.0 2 8.5 1 53 975000 1314
Abhishek Nayar MI IND 35 250.0 0 - 1 53 100000 136
Karan Goel KXI IND 38 181.0 0 - 1 50 *30000 43
K Pietersen BRC ENG 32 103.2 1 4.7 2 49 1550000 4542
Jesse Ryder BRC NZ 0 0.0 2 3.5 1 48 160000 433
Pragyan Ojha DC IND 0 - 2 3.5 1 46 *30000 47
Joginder Sharma CSK IND 16 106.7 2 7.0 2 46 225000 703
M Gony CSK IND 0 - 3 8.0 2 46 *30000 94
Shane Warne RR AUS 3 33.3 2 4.5 1 41 450000 789
Jacob Oram CSK NZ 8 133.3 1 7.5 1 39 675000 2254
L Balaji CSK IND 0 - 2 7.7 1 34 *30000 115
Harbhajan Singh MI IND 4 200.0 1 5.0 1 32 850000 1897
Suresh Raina CSK IND 36 94.7 0 - 2 32 650000 2902
Munaf Patel RR IND 0 0.0 2 8.3 1 29 275000 677
Scott Styris DC NZ 0 - 2 8.0 1 28 175000 446
Dwayne Bravo MI WI 5 125.0 1 6.8 1 27 150000 397
Harmeet Singh DC IND 0 - 1 5.8 1 26 *30000 82

These numbers are slightly misleading - because some players have played an extra match - but the list does appear to confirm what many commentators are already saying: this could be a bowlers' IPL. Only a third of the names on the list are pure batsmen, and these are among the world's best.

Finally, let's look at the 30 highest paid players. How many of them have started well?

Player Team From Runs Strike Rate W Eco rate M MVPI Money ($) PVI
A Flintoff CSK ENG 46 127.8 2 7.9 2 83 1550000 2684
K Pietersen BRC ENG 32 103.2 1 4.7 2 49 1550000 4542
MS Dhoni CSK IND 52 130.0 0 - 2 70 1500000 3083
S Tendulkar MI IND 59 120.4 0 - 1 61 1121250 1318
Sourav Ganguly KKR IND 1 8.3 0 8.0 1 -14 1092500 <0
Yuvraj Singh KXI IND 16 145.5 0 - 1 18 1063750 4163
Rahul Dravid BRC IND 86 130.3 0 - 2 109 1035000 1363
S Jayasuriya MI SL 26 130.0 2 8.5 1 53 975000 1314
Ishant Sharma KKR IND 9 100.0 0 4.3 1 16 950000 4176
J-P Duminy MI SA 9 128.6 0 - 1 9 950000 7336
Irfan Pathan KXI IND 6 85.7 0 9.0 1 2 925000 37755
Jacques Kallis BRC SA 24 126.3 0 14.0 1 11 900000 10286
RP Singh DC IND 0 - 4 6.0 1 66 875000 954
Harbhajan Singh MI IND 4 200.0 1 5.0 1 32 850000 1897
V Sehwag DD IND 38 237.5 0 - 1 56 833750 1063
Chris Gayle KKR WI 10 83.3 0 14.0 1 -2 800000 < 0
Robin Uthappa BRC IND 23 79.3 0 - 2 25 800000 4526
Rohit Sharma DC IND 0 - 0 - 1 19 750000 2820
G Gambhir DD IND 15 115.4 0 - 1 14 725000 3766
Adam Gilchrist DC AUS 13 118.2 0 - 1 24 700000 2062
B McCullum KKR NZ 1 33.3 0 - 1 6 700000 8696
K Sangakkara KXI SL 8 72.7 0 - 1 2 700000 22222
Jacob Oram CSK NZ 8 133.3 1 7.5 1 39 675000 2254
Manoj Tiwary DD IND 0 - 0 - 1 15 675000 3214
Suresh Raina CSK IND 36 94.7 0 - 2 32 650000 2902
Albie Morkel CSK SA 5 166.7 1 6.0 1 24 650000 3446
T Henderson RR SA 11 73.3 1 7.5 1 18 650000 2544
Daniel Vettori DD NZ 0 - 3 5.0 1 60 625000 744

This table seems to confirm what we've suspected: a sizeable fraction of the player price is paid for brand-selling value rather than cricketing skills. The list of players offering paisa vasool in pure cricketing terms is very small:  Tendulkar, Dravid, Jayasuriya, R P Singh, Sehwag and Daniel Vettori. These names, in many ways, constitute the 'best bargains'.

Notice too that single-skill players are almost always a losing proposition: Ishant Sharma, Chris Gayle (although he can bowl a bit), Robin Uthappa (he's trying to keep a bit, but wicketkeepers don't add real value in IPL) and Manoj TIwary are just a few names that immediately attract attention.

Based on the detailed IPL1 analysis carried out by Purnendu Maji in 2008. The paisa vasool index uses a model developed by M J Manohar Rao and Rajeeva L Karandikar.

Srinivas Bhogle heads the Bangalore operations of TEOCO Software Pvt Ltd

Get Rediff News in your Inbox:
Srinivas Bhogle

INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE 2024

INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE 2024