There was a time when the One-Day Internationals World Cup tournament was over in just two weeks!

Now it drags on for many weeks. We also have a lot of one-sided matches; which are bothersome because performance in such matches may not truly reflect a player's value.

The 2011 World Cup is now (as of on the morning of March 1) 13 matches old, and most of the top teams (except South Africa [ Images ]) have already played two matches.

We therefore have enough data to identify the leading performers so far, using our most valuable player index (MVPI).

The formula to compute MVPI 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, fielders who take the most catches or participate in the most run out dismissals … and collapses this combined performance into a single 'run-equivalent' index.

So if Shahid Afridi [ Images ], who is currently the most valuable player of this World Cup, has a MVPI of 303, it means that his batting + bowling + fielding performance (mostly bowling, in Afridi's case) is equivalent to scoring 303 runs.

Most valuable players in the 2011 World Cup so far (after 13 matches, as on 28.2.2011)

Runs (scored) | Sixes | Fours | Strike rate | Bat-pts: Batting points | W: Wickets taken | Eco: Economy rate | Bowl-pts: Bowling points | Field-pts: fielding points | M: Matches played | MVPI: Most valuable player index = sum of batting, bowling and fielding points | AvMVPI = MVPI/M | *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

South African players do not figure prominently yet because South Africa has played only one match. But their players are certain to rise in the charts as the World Cup progresses.

What will score the most runs and take the most wickets? Too early to say yet, but bet on Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Andrew Strauss or AB de Villiers at this stage to score the most runs. If Shahid Afridi continues his rampaging form, he is certain to end up with the most wickets but Australian pacer Mitchell Johnson is also in the race.