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Most Valuable Player: It could be Yuvraj vs Afridi!

March 22, 2011 15:40 IST

Who are the most valuable players in the 2011 World Cup? Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji present a statistical look after 42 matches in the tournament.

After his match-winning century against the West Indies, Yuvraj Singh has inched closer to the top of the MVPI table, and could well challenge Shahid Afridi for the top spot.

Our list is based on the idea of the most valuable player index (MVPI), which is calculated by adding together a player's batting, bowling and fielding index.

- World Cup 2011 coverage

The batting index is based on a combination of runs scored and strike rate; the bowling index uses a combination of the number of wickets taken and the economy rate; and the fielding index is based on the number of catches taken and the fielder's participation in run-out dismissals.

Most valuable players in the 2011 World Cup so far (after 42 matches, as on 21.3.2011)

Player Name

Team

Runs

6s

4s

Strike Rate

W

Eco Rate

M

MVPI

1

Shahid Afridi

PAK

65

1

8

130.0

17

3.5

6

633

2

Yuvraj Singh

IND

284

3

29

86.1

9

5.0

6

526

3

Tillakaratne Dilshan

SL

286

1

38

97.3

5

3.5

6

500

4

Robin Peterson

SA

43

1

6

134.4

14

4.0

6

480

5

Ryan ten Doeschate

NED

307

5

26

89.2

7

6.2

6

450

6

Kumar Sangakkara

SL

363

4

32

88.8

0

--

6

448

7

Tim Southee

NZ

14

0

1

77.8

14

4.0

6

444

8

Virender Sehwag

IND

327

7

38

125.3

0

--

5

442

9

Graeme Swann

ENG

60

1

7

120.0

12

4.2

6

430

10

Zaheer Khan

IND

9

0

1

81.8

15

4.3

6

424

11

Umar Gul

PAK

36

1

3

124.1

13

4.2

6

415

12

AB de Villiers

SA

318

7

27

111.2

0

--

4

415

13

Shakib Al Hasan

BAN

142

0

14

71.0

8

4.8

6

386

14

Sachin Tendulkar

IND

326

8

32

99.7

0

--

6

385

15

Shane Watson

AUS

265

7

27

96.0

2

4.4

6

384

16

Andrew Strauss

ENG

329

3

34

97.3

0

--

6

381

17

Kevin O'Brien

IRE

198

9

19

125.3

4

6.8

6

374

18

Kemar Roach

WI

3

0

0

30.0

13

3.9

5

368

19

Brett Lee

AUS

5

0

1

62.5

12

4.2

6

362

20

Kieron Pollard

WI

179

11

14

158.4

2

4.9

6

359

21

Muttiah Muralitharan

SL

7

1

0

175.0

11

3.5

6

355

22

Darren Sammy

WI

53

3

4

115.2

9

4.6

6

350

23

Imran Tahir

SA

1

0

0

100.0

12

3.9

4

346

24

Jonathan Trott

ENG

336

0

26

82.6

0

--

6

345

25

Harvir Baidwan

CAN

53

0

6

67.1

13

5.6

6

343

26

John Mooney

IRE

58

0

8

64.4

10

5.8

6

342

27

Mitchell Johnson

AUS

19

0

3

146.2

10

3.8

6

340

28

Paul Stirling

IRE

157

3

23

122.7

4

4.5

6

339

29

Ray Price

ZIM

37

0

4

62.7

9

3.4

6

336

30

Brendon McCullum

NZ

239

5

27

94.8

0

--

6

333

31

Brad Haddin

AUS

279

4

34

77.7

0

--

6

331

32

Jacques Kallis

SA

178

1

15

76.1

5

4.3

6

329

33

Jean-Paul Duminy

SA

221

6

12

101.8

2

5.1

6

325

34

Hashim Amla

SA

299

1

24

86.9

0

--

6

316

35

Ross Taylor

NZ

245

13

18

100.0

0

--

6

311

36

Sulieman Benn

WI

16

0

1

45.7

12

5.0

6

304

37

Tim Bresnan

ENG

41

1

2

82.0

9

4.9

6

300

38

Dale Steyn

SA

20

0

3

64.5

10

4.1

5

300

39

Jacob Oram

NZ

45

3

3

125.0

8

4.7

4

294

40

Michael Clarke

AUS

225

1

20

94.9

0

4.2

6

282

41

Shaun Tait

AUS

0

0

0

0.0

10

4.7

6

280

42

Upul Tharanga

SL

261

0

36

87.3

0

--

6

278

43

Prosper Utseya

ZIM

123

1

9

65.4

6

4.3

6

273

44

Devon Smith

WI

293

2

31

77.7

0

6.0

6

271

45

George Dockrell

IRE

42

0

6

79.2

7

4.4

6

269

46

Mahela Jayawardene

SL

200

1

19

93.9

0

--

6

265

47

Virat Kohli

IND

214

2

19

89.2

0

--

6

263

48

Mohammad Hafeez

PAK

111

1

15

78.2

5

4.1

6

261

49

Graeme Cremer

ZIM

99

0

8

68.8

6

4.6

6

259

50

Niall O'Brien

IRE

205

2

17

75.6

0

--

6

254

The top run-getters so far are Kumar Sangakkara (363), Jonathan Trott (336), Andrew Strauss (329), Virender Sehwag (327) and Sachin Tendulkar (326). The highest aggregates have, in almost every case, been achieved by batsmen batting at No 1, 2, 3 or 4.

Among batsmen who have scored 150 or more runs, the best strike rates have been clocked by Kieron Pollard (179 runs, 158.4),  Kevin O'Brien (198, 125.3), Sehwag (327, 125.3), Paul Stirling (157, 122.7), A B de Villiers (318, 111.2), J-P Duminy (221, 101.8), Ross Taylor (245, 100) and Sachin Tendulkar (326, 99.7)

The top wicket-takers so far are Shahid Afridi (17), Zaheer Khan (15), Robin Peterson (14), Tim Southee (14) and Umar Gul (13).

Among bowlers who have taken 10 or more wickets, the lowest economy rates have been achieved by Shahid Afridi (17 wickets, 3.5), Muttiah Muralitharan (11, 3.5), Mitchell Johnson (10, 3.8), Imran Tahir (12, 3.9), Kemar Roach (13, 3.9), Tim Southee (14, 4.0) and Robin Peterson (14, 4.0).