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More paisa vasool this year, or less?

May 19, 2009 15:40 IST

Sanath Jayasuriya? He was much better last year, even though he hasn't batted too badly this year.

Jacques Kallis? He's certainly looking better this year, perhaps because he's playing at home.

Rohit Sharma? He's been just as good this year. That finish against Kolkata Knight Riders was brilliant, and he's taking wickets too after that hat-trick!

Shane Warne? He'll be a winner as long as he plays!

It's interesting to compare IPL performances in 2008 and 2009, and Rediff.com's paisa vasool index allows us to make objective comparisons.

Recall that the paisa vasool index (PVI) is the amount of money a player receives in US$ for every 'run' scored (a player's batting, bowling and fielding performance is collapsed in this single 'run' variable).

Tables A, B and C respectively list the names of players who've improved their showing in 2009, declined in 2009, or maintained parity between their 2008 and 2009 performances.
Table A: Improved in 2009 (PVI has reduced significantly)

Player Team From Runs Strike rate W Eco rate MVPI Value ($) PVI 2009 PVI 2008
Sachin Tendulkar MI IND 318 121.4 0 9.7 335 1121250 3065 6782
Ishant Sharma KKR IND 16 123.1 11 6.9 210 950000 3808 7002
AB de Villiers DD SA 373 132.7 0 -- 465 300000 507 2903
Anil Kumble BRC IND 15 83.3 13 5.9 288 500000 1487 3769
Murali Kartik KKR IND 21 105.0 4 5.6 140 425000 2481 4505
Jacques Kallis BRC SA 274 111.8 4 8.4 287 900000 2641 4647
D Mascarenhas RR ENG 39 100.0 6 6.8 136 100000 556 2362
Daniel Vettori DD NZ 30 100.0 7 7.8 153 625000 2923 4252
Brad Hodge KKR AUS 288 111.6 7 7.5 375 100000 221 1406
A Symonds DC AUS 149 165.6 2 8.1 213 1350000 1452 2612
Herschelle Gibbs DC SA 189 108.0 0 -- 202 575000 2356 3464
Dinesh Karthik DD IND 225 133.9 0 -- 336 525000 1228 2309
T Dilshan DD SL 249 125.8 0 6.3 282 250000 698 1566
RP Singh DC IND 8 53.3 16 6.8 293 875000 2558 3383
M Jayawardene KXI SL 219 132.7 0 -- 264 475000 1492 2248
Ashish Nehra DD IND 1 100.0 16 7.0 289 400000 1069 1824
Brett Lee KXI AUS 22 100.0 5 5.3 118 900000 2079 2820
Wilkin Mota KXI IND 13 68.4 2 5.8 62 30000 375 1071
Karan Goel KXI IND 124 93.2 0 7.6 101 30000 242 638
M Muralitharan CSK SL 7 100.0 10 5.8 242 600000 2056 2419

Sachin Tendulkar is fit this year, and that's showing in the way he is batting. A B de Villiers, Jacques Kallis and Herschelle Gibbs are playing better on home grounds.

Anil Kumble, R P Singh and Ashish Nehra are fresh, and enjoying bowling on more favourable bowling surfaces, and Daniel Vettori and Mahela Jayawardene are showing how two intelligent cricketers can always improvise if they get a sufficiently long run in the middle.

Table B: Declined in 2009 (PVI has increased significantly)

Player Team From Runs Strike rate W Eco rate MVPI Value ($) PVI 2009 PVI 2008
Sourav Ganguly KKR IND 185 97.4 2 8.1 164 1092500 5632 2502
Virender Sehwag DD IND 107 152.9 0 -- 138 833750 4402 1461
Gautam Gambhir DD IND 204 98.1 0 -- 156 725000 3652 1275
Ajit Agarkar KKR IND 53 132.5 4 9.7 72 330000 3732 1758
Rahul Dravid BRC IND 174 125.2 0 -- 197 1035000 4273 2870
B McCullum KKR NZ 195 104.3 0 -- 203 700000 2861 777
Robin Uthappa BRC IND 157 104.7 0 -- 169 800000 3990 2564
Sanath Jayasuriya MI SL 221 115.7 7 8.1 313 975000 2801 1337
Jacob Oram CSK NZ 62 95.4 5 8.1 132 675000 4099 2878
Ashok Dinda KKR IND 2 66.7 3 9.5 17 30000 1366 140
Y Takawale MI IND 18 81.8 0 -- 36 75000 1690 412
Graeme Smith RR SA 212 100.0 0 -- 167 475000 2397 1057
Shikhar Dhawan MI IND 40 88.9 0 -- 32 40000 1026 91
Albie Morkel CSK SA 56 130.2 12 7.7 249 650000 2161 1218
Dhawal Kulkarni MI IND 9 52.9 4 7.4 63 70000 933 164
Dale Steyn BRC SA 0 0.0 2 6.9 36 325000 6623 1194
Farveez Maharoof DD SL 3 37.5 2 7.3 27 225000 5357 498
Joginder Sharma CSK IND 20 111.1 2 8.1 43 225000 3887 1762
M Gony CSK IND 6 300.0 4 10.8 35 30000 649 79
Parthiv Patel CSK IND 49 86.0 0 -- 31 325000 8153 1332

Given the disarray in the team it's not a surprise that Sourav Ganguly and Brendon McCullum are not getting anywhere. Rahul Dravid started very well, but hasn't got enough opportunities after his break.

Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir seem to have momentarily lost it; but their team is comfortable and if this portends a strong return of the duo in the Twenty20 World Cup that may not be such a bad thing.

Sanath Jayasuriya seems confused about his place in the batting order, and isn't getting enough opportunities to bowl in favourable conditions.  Dhawal Kulkarni, Manpreet Gony and Ashok Dinda are either struggling to bowl on South African pitches, or just not good enough.

Table C: No big change (PVI is about the same in 2008 and 2009)

Player Team From Runs Strike rate W Eco rate MVPI Value ($) PVI 2009 PVI 2008
Adam Gilchrist DC AUS 372 145.3 0 -- 544 700000 1104 1422
Suresh Raina CSK IND 342 147.4 5 5.6 534 650000 1026 1237
Rohit Sharma DC IND 243 115.2 11 6.1 443 750000 1452 1503
Praveen Kumar BRC IND 63 146.5 9 7.4 236 300000 1034 1084
Pragyan Ojha DC IND 1 14.3 13 6.1 247 30000 102 151
M Hayden CSK AUS 546 145.2 0 -- 650 375000 487 527
Amit Mishra DD IND 13 86.7 8 6.7 175 30000 127 139
Shane Warne RR AUS 84 100.0 14 7.5 307 450000 1237 1211
Munaf Patel RR IND 5 50.0 12 7.0 210 275000 1065 1031
Dwayne Bravo MI WI 218 107.4 11 7.8 395 150000 336 259
Mark Boucher BRC SA 135 133.7 0 -- 183 450000 1970 1829
Yuvraj Singh KXI IND 314 121.7 3 8.1 362 1063750 2522 2371
Irfan Pathan KXI IND 165 122.2 13 7.6 356 925000 2226 1975
Yusuf Pathan RR IND 233 142.9 7 7.0 406 475000 985 681
Simon Katich KXI AUS 126 134.0 0 -- 150 200000 1048 714
K Sangakkara KXI SL 269 98.9 0 -- 237 700000 2532 1716
Zaheer Khan MI IND 8 72.7 6 6.8 123 450000 3025 2174
MS Dhoni CSK IND 262 130.3 0 -- 327 1500000 3863 3187
Ross Taylor BRC NZ 210 131.3 0 13.0 215 100000 366 188
Abhishek Nayar MI IND 189 127.7 4 5.9 281 100000 325 121

This table is actually a good list of players who are either well-suited for (or have mastered the skill of playing) T20 cricket, although Simon Katich looks to be the odd man out.

And the three outstanding Australian cricketers on that list show that if you have that sort of discipline, grit and magic you can play all three versions of cricket with equal felicity and success.

Srinivas Bhogle now works for TEOCO Software Pvt Ltd. This note is 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