After the first week of the DLF IPL, the Australians appeared to be dominating. From the second week onwards, especially after Matthew Hayden [Images], Michael Hussey, Brett Lee [Images] and Andrew Symonds [Images] left, the Indians seemed to be gaining ascendancy with fine performances from Virender Sehwag [Images], Gautam Gambhir [Images], Rohit Sharma, the Pathan brothers and M S Dhoni [Images].

How are the "heavyweights" from different countries currently (after 33 matches) performing?

• Statistics: Younger is better in IPL

To answer this question, we looked at the average MVPI of the "auctioned" players from different countries. The chart below provides the answers.

It's not a big surprise that India heads the list; every top Indian player is playing the IPL. One must marvel, however, at the way Australian players like Shane Watson, Adam Gilchrist [Images], David Hussey, Shane Warne [Images] and Shaun Marsh have continued to dominate even after their top players have left.

 For Sri Lanka [Images], Kumar Sangakkara, Sanath Jayasuriya and F Maharoof have been the three best players. Muthiah Muralitharan and Mahela Jayawardene [Images] have played reasonably well, but come to the playing field with only one cricketing skill.

• How the foreign players are faring in the IPL

For South Africa, Shaun Pollock [Images] and Albie Morkel are the two top performers. Graeme Smith [Images], who started late, is doing well and Mark Boucher [Images] has occasionally blossomed. Jacques Kallis [Images] has been disappointing and Herschelle Gibbs [Images] has been hugely disappointing.

New Zealand [Images] have had two excellent performers: Brendon McCullum and Ross Taylor. Stephen Fleming [Images] and Scott Styris haven't taken off and Jacob Oram [Images] and Daniel Vettori [Images] left before they could make a big impact.

The Pakistanis joined a little late and have so far been rather disappointing. Shahid Afridi [Images] is still the best player - because he brings in both bowling and batting skills - and Sohail Tanvir has had one magical spell. Umar Gul and Mohammed Asif have had the odd good game.

• Which franchise owner is getting the best return?

Among the West Indians only Dwayne Bravo [Images] has done very well. Ramnaresh Sarwan [Images] and Shivnarine Chanderpaul [Images] have been disappointing.

Meanwhile Shane Watson has widened his lead at the top of the most valuable player table after, what Shane Warne called, IPL's best knock. Irfan has edged ahead of his brother Yusuf after his hurricane 40 against Chennai Super Kings and, out of the blue, India's greatest cricket warrior Sourav Ganguly [Images] has emerged to take the tenth place after two remarkable performances.

Table 1: IPL's most valuable players (after 33 matches; as on noon of 12 May 2008)

Runs (scored) | Balls (taken) | Bat-pts: Batting points | | Rc: Runs conceded | Bb: Balls bowled | W: Wickets taken | Bowl-pts: Bowling points | Ct/St: Catches taken / Stumpings | Run outs (participated) | Field-pts: fielding points | M: Matches played | Total (points)  = sum of batting, bowling and fielding points | *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.

• Who are the fast bowlers offering the best value?

The IPL players brought in after the big auction (at very low prices) continue to provide the best value for money. But it's interesting to see Shane Watson with a PVI of just 138, and Dwayne Bravo with 314. Assuming a PVI of 1000 to be par, one might say that Watson's future earnings might go up by a factor of at least 7. Bravo too should cost at least three times more if he maintains his current performance.

Table 2: The best IPL buys after the first 33 IPL matches (US dollars paid so far for contributing each "run")

DD: Delhi Daredevils | CSK: Chennai Super Kings | DC: Deccan Chargers | BRC: Bangalore Royal Challengers | RR: Rajasthan Royals | KKR: Kolkata Knight Riders | KXI: Kings XI Punjab | MI: Mumbai Indians

M: Matches played | MVPI: Most valuable player index | Money offered; some estimates may be incorrect! | MA: Matches available | MF: Fraction of money earned so far | PVI: Paisa vasool index; dollars paid for every run equivalent scored.