It's interesting to look back at the IPL player auction in February 2008 and see if there are some lessons to learn from an event that shook the cricketing fraternity. These are random thoughts, and appearing in a random order, but influenced by our paisa vasool analysis.

The idea of an 'icon' player didn't work. The icon captain was expected to reinforce local loyalty to the team, but apparently that wasn't necessary, except perhaps with Sourav Ganguly [Images] and Kolkata Knight Riders. When asked to lead the Chennai team, M S Dhoni [Images] from Ranchi didn't "mind it" at all; poor dear Rahul Dravid [Images], on the other hand, has barely smiled after assuming Bangalore's icon position.

The icon classification forced franchise owners to typically hold back 20-25% of the amount admissible (US$ 5 million) for just one player... but no player can really be worth so much. This becomes evident when we look at the PVI of icon players. Most have a PVI of around 3000, except Virender Sehwag [Images] who is below 1500 and Sachin Tendulkar [Images] who is well above 3000.

It was unwise to pay too much for single cricketing skills. Pure bowlers and pure batsmen are very unlikely to offer good returns if they are paid more than $500,000 (at 2008 rates). Pure bowler Ishant Sharma ($950,000) currently has a PVI of 5557. Even R P Singh ($875,000), who's at the moment wearing the purple cap with 15 wickets, has a PVI of 2841. Pure batsman Robin Uthappa ($800,000) has a PVI of 2484, Mohammed Kaif and Manoj Tiwary have PVIs respectively of 6181 and 7114.

It is of course possible for single skill cricketers to have sufficiently low PVIs; but that needs exceptional performance. IPL's best batsman, Gautam Gambhir [Images] ($725,000), has a PVI of 1145 although he offers only one skill. Rohit Sharma ($750,000) has a PVI of 1491. Pure bowler S Sreesanth [Images] ($625,000), with his 13 wickets - and all those tears - has a reasonable PVI of 2210.

Indian players cost more than foreign players for comparable skills. Why would one pay Yusuf Pathan $550,000 and Matthew Hayden [Images] only $375,000? This is puzzling till one realizes that every team must have seven Indian players. India probably has 20 top-notch T20 players, and there are eight teams competing for this scarce resource! So Indians naturally cost more. Exactly the opposite argument works for foreign players: fewer foreign players are required, and there is a larger pool to choose from.

Wicket-keepers are not so valuable in T20. In the last decade, coinciding with the explosive appearance of Adam Gilchrist [Images], it has become fashionable to say that wicket-keepers too are 'all-rounders'. In test matches, and even in ODI cricket, a good wicket-keeper batsman indeed allows the team to include an extra bowler or batsman. But in T20 cricket, the wicket-keeper's role - and value - is vastly diminished; that's why we've seen so many irregulars donning the gloves in the IPL. At the IPL auction, wicket-keepers commanded higher prices - perhaps undeservedly. M S Dhoni ($1,500,000) has a PVI of 3238, Dinesh Karthik [Images] ($525,000) is 3280, Kumar Sangakkara ($700,000) is 1861, Mark Boucher [Images] ($450,000)'s PVI is 1636, and Adam Gilchrist ($700,000) is 1382. The message appears to be: forget their wicket-keeping, just pick them for their batting.

Bowling all-rounders might be more valuable than batting all-rounders. The performance of two South African all-rounders illustrates this very well: Shaun Pollock [Images] ($550,000), a bowling all-rounder, has a PVI of 1126 while his compatriot Jacques Kallis [Images] ($900,000), a batting all-rounder, has a PVI of 4746. Shahid Afridi [Images] ($675,000) has a PVI of 1803 while his captain Shoaib Malik [Images] ($500,000) has a PVI of 4658. Irfan Pathan [Images] ($925,000) with a PVI of 1716 offers more value than Sourav Ganguly ($1,092,500) with a PVI of 2781. Sanath Jayasuriya ($975,000) is however a glaring exception with a PVI of 1353.

Likely match-winners were paid more. Matches are won either by assembling a winning combination of talented, hard-working and consistent performers, or by explosive performers who overwhelm the opposition if it's their day. At the IPL auction, the potentially explosive match-winners fetched higher prices: M S Dhoni ($1,500,000), Yuvraj Singh [Images] ($1,063,750), Virender Sehwag ($833,750) and Robin Uthappa ($800,000) from India, Andrew Symonds [Images] ($1,350,000), Brett Lee [Images] ($900,000) and Adam Gilchrist ($700,000) from Australia, and Sanath Jayasuriya ($975,000), Chris Gayle ($800,000), Kumar Sangakkara ($700,000) and Shahid Afridi ($675,000). Only Jayasuriya, Gilchrist and Sehwag have so far single-handedly won matches for their teams. The PVI of most of these players is between 1500-2000 - suggesting that gambling with such players must be done cautiously. But it still makes sense to gamble with at least one player... he might win you the big prize on the big day.

Young and fit all-rounders offer the greatest value. Shane Watson ($125,000), Dwayne Bravo [Images] ($100,000) and Farveez Maharoof ($225,000) have been the three most successful foreign all-rounders in the IPL with PVIs respectively of 138, 259 and 545. There haven't been too many young Indian all-rounders (although a lot of young bowlers have surfaced), but Laxmi Ratan Shukla and Abhishek Nayar, costing only about $30,000 but with PVIs of 102 and 113, certainly offer evidence in support of this hypothesis.

Gamble on youth, and on Australians. The first 12-15 names on the list of players offering the best paisa vasool terms (lowest PVI) are of young Indians we had never heard of: Ashok Dinda, Manpreet Gony, Dhawal Kulkarni, Swapnil Asnodkar, Siddharth Trivedi, Ravindra Jadeja and Yo Mahesh. They have PVI values below 150 and have played wonderful supporting roles. It therefore certainly makes sense to scout the country for such virgin talent.

Australian players dominated the auction and one can now appreciate the reasons. Australia has the machinery to nurture innate talent, and Australian players come in with a superlative work ethic. One of our analysis pieces on Rediff also confirmed that Australians have performed at least twice as well as cricketers from other foreign countries.

The first IPL auction was mad, chaotic and amusing. But one suspects that the lessons learned in IPL 2008 will lead to more rational selections for IPL 2009. Two factors will have a major bearing next year: Will the cap of US$ 5 million be lifted, and allowed to become unequal? Will the number of foreign players in the playing 11 be increased from 4 to 5? One possibility that the IPL could consider is something that didn't work out in ODI cricket: allow teams of 12, with the proviso that only 7 Indians and 4 foreigners figure at any time in the playing 11 - this will offer a backdoor entry to that fifth foreign player.

Details

The tables below list the players with the highest most valuable player index (MVPI) and the lowest paisa vasool index (PVI) at the end of IPL's match 43.

Rank	Player	Team	From	M	MVPI	Money offered ($)	MA	MF	PVI
1	Shaun Marsh	KXI	AUS	6	322	30000	10	21429	67
2	Shikhar Dhawan	DD	IND	12	309	30000	12	25714	83
3	Venugopal Rao	DC	IND	8	256	30000	11	23571	92
4	S Badrinath	CSK	IND	11	240	30000	11	23571	98
5	Laxmi Shukla	KKR	IND	11	232	30000	11	23571	102
6	Ashok Dinda	KKR	IND	11	217	30000	11	23571	109
7	Prasanta Saha	KKR	IND	10	215	30000	11	23571	109
8	Manpreet Gony	CSK	IND	11	215	30000	11	23571	110
9	Dhawal Kulkarni	MI	IND	8	195	30000	10	21429	110
10	Abhishek Nayar	MI	IND	10	190	30000	10	21429	113
11	Swapnil Asnodkar	RR	IND	4	174	30000	10	21429	123
12	Shane Watson	RR	AUS	10	645	125000	10	89286	138
13	Siddharth Trivedi	RR	IND	10	150	30000	10	21429	143
14	Ravindra Jadeja	RR	IND	10	142	30000	10	21429	151
15	Yo Mahesh	DD	IND	9	171	30000	12	25714	151
16	Amit Mishra	DD	IND	4	167	30000	12	25714	154
17	S Vidyut	CSK	IND	6	147	30000	11	23571	161
18	Pragyan Ojha	DC	IND	11	144	30000	11	23571	164
19	L Balaji	CSK	IND	4	136	30000	11	23571	173
20	Vikram Singh	KXI	IND	8	122	30000	10	21429	176
21	Rajat Bhatia	DD	IND	9	140	30000	12	25714	184
22	Ross Taylor	BRC	NZ	4	190	100000	5	35714	188
23	Virat Kohli	BRC	IND	10	116	30000	11	23571	203
24	Sohail Tanvir	RR	PAK	6	222	100000	8	57143	257
25	D Thornely	MI	AUS	6	83	30000	10	21429	257
26	Dwayne Bravo	MI	WI	9	372	150000	9	96429	259
27	Sanjay Bangar	DC	IND	9	88	30000	11	23571	269
28	Mahesh Rawat	RR	IND	8	69	30000	10	21429	312
29	P Sangwan	DD	IND	7	74	30000	12	25714	346
30	Dwaraka Ravi Teja [Images]	DC	IND	4	65	30000	11	23571	361
31	Shreevats Goswami	BRC	IND	1	64	30000	11	23571	368
32	P Vijaykumar	DC	IND	6	63	30000	11	23571	376
33	Palani Amarnath	CSK	IND	6	60	30000	11	23571	393
34	Luke Ronchi	MI	AUS	4	53	30000	10	21429	402
35	Debabrata Das	KKR	IND	4	55	30000	11	23571	431
36	Karan Goel	KXI	IND	7	47	30000	10	21429	456
37	Michael Hussey	CSK	AUS	4	211	350000	4	100000	475
38	Luke Pomersbach	KXI	AUS	2	74	50000	10	35714	483
39	Salman Butt [Images]	KKR	PAK	5	131	100000	9	64286	489
40	Arjun Yadav	DC	IND	6	46	30000	11	23571	512
41	Y Takawale	MI	IND	5	68	50000	10	35714	525
42	Matthew Hayden	CSK	AUS	4	203	375000	4	107143	527
43	Darren Lehmann	RR	AUS	2	12	30000	3	6429	536
44	Musavir Khote	MI	IND	4	40	30000	10	21429	540
45	Farveez Maharoof	DD	SL	8	354	225000	12	192857	545
46	Dinesh Salunkhe	RR	IND	4	37	30000	10	21429	579
47	Pinal Shah	MI	IND	3	31	30000	10	21429	684
48	Uday Kaul	KXI	IND	4	31	30000	10	21429	699
49	Balachandra Akhil	BRC	IND	4	33	30000	11	23571	707
50	Ramesh Powar [Images]	KXI	IND	1	30	30000	10	21429	714
51	Simon Katich	KXI	AUS	2	100	200000	5	71429	714
52	Saurabh Tiwary	MI	IND	3	29	30000	10	21429	731
53	Misbah-ul-Haq	BRC	PAK	5	101	125000	9	80357	798
54	B McCullum	KKR	NZ	4	247	700000	4	200000	809
55	Umar Gul	KKR	PAK	4	104	150000	9	96429	930
56	Shane Warne [Images]	RR	AUS	10	322	450000	10	321429	999
57	Praveen Kumar	BRC	IND	11	231	300000	11	235714	1020
58	James Hopes	KXI	AUS	7	210	300000	10	214286	1022
59	Yusuf Pathan	RR	IND	10	329	475000	10	339286	1030
60	Glenn McGrath	DD	AUS	12	285	350000	12	300000	1051
61	Graeme Smith [Images]	RR	SA	8	255	475000	8	271429	1063
62	Gagandeep Singh	KXI	IND	3	12	30000	6	12857	1071
63	Brad Hodge	KKR	AUS	3	21	30000	11	23571	1105
64	Shaun Pollock	MI	SA	9	349	550000	10	392857	1126
65	Wasim Jaffer [Images]	BRC	IND	5	104	150000	11	117857	1133
66	Munaf Patel [Images]	RR	IND	10	172	275000	10	196429	1144
67	Gautam Gambhir	DD	IND	12	543	725000	12	621429	1145
68	Piyush Chawla	KXI	IND	10	249	400000	10	285714	1149
69	Harbhajan Singh [Images]	MI	IND	3	147	850000	3	182143	1236
70	Aakash Chopra	KKR	IND	4	19	30000	11	23571	1263
71	V Sehwag	DD	IND	12	554	833750	12	714643	1289
72	Mohd Hafeez	KKR	PAK	7	60	100000	11	78571	1310
73	S Jayasuriya	MI	SL	10	515	975000	10	696429	1353
74	Scott Styris	DC	NZ	6	101	175000	11	137500	1357
75	Adam Gilchrist	DC	AUS	11	398	700000	11	550000	1382
76	Joginder Sharma	CSK	IND	8	128	225000	11	176786	1385
77	Ajit Agarkar [Images]	KKR	IND	8	186	330000	11	259286	1392
78	Devraj Patil	BRC	IND	2	17	30000	11	23571	1414
79	Rohit Sharma	DC	IND	11	395	750000	11	589286	1491
80	J Arunkumar	BRC	IND	3	15	30000	11	23571	1537
81	Ashish Nehra	MI	IND	10	181	400000	10	285714	1579
82	Kamran Akmal	RR	PAK	2	53	150000	8	85714	1627
83	Mark Boucher	BRC	SA	8	216	450000	11	353571	1637
84	David Hussey	KKR	AUS	11	319	675000	11	530357	1661
85	D Mascarenhas	RR	ENG	1	42	100000	10	71429	1687
86	Zaheer Khan [Images]	BRC	IND	11	207	450000	11	353571	1708
87	Irfan Pathan	KXI	IND	10	385	925000	10	660714	1716
88	Makhaya Ntini [Images]	CSK	SA	4	90	200000	11	157143	1746
89	Shahid Afridi	DC	PAK	9	267	675000	10	482143	1804
90	Ashley Noffke	BRC	AUS	1	13	30000	11	23571	1861
91	K Sangakkara	KXI	SL	6	269	700000	10	500000	1861
92	Dale Steyn	BRC	SA	7	110	325000	9	208929	1894
93	M Jayawardene	KXI	SL	9	178	475000	10	339286	1906
94	Chaminda Vaas [Images]	DC	SL	4	81	200000	11	157143	1940
95	Tillakaratne Dilshan	DD	SL	5	108	250000	12	214286	1978
96	VVS Laxman	DC	IND	6	146	375000	11	294643	2018
97	Suresh Raina	CSK	IND	11	251	650000	11	510714	2037
98	Stephen Fleming [Images]	CSK	NZ	7	131	350000	11	275000	2105
99	Mithun Manhas	DD	IND	1	12	30000	12	25714	2143
100	S Sreesanth	KXI	IND	10	202	625000	10	446429	2210
101	Albie Morkel	CSK	SA	8	223	650000	11	510714	2290
102	Niraj Patel	RR	IND	2	9	30000	10	21429	2296
103	Nuwan Zoysa	DC	SL	3	35	110000	11	86429	2469
104	Robin Uthappa	MI	IND	10	230	800000	10	571429	2484
105	AB de Villiers	DD	SA	6	103	300000	12	257143	2488
106	Shoaib Akhtar [Images]	KKR	PAK	3	61	425000	5	151786	2502
107	Andrew Symonds	DC	AUS	4	148	1350000	4	385714	2612
108	Yuvraj Singh	KXI	IND	10	288	1063750	10	759821	2641
109	Sourav Ganguly	KKR	IND	11	309	1092500	11	858393	2781
110	Brett Lee	KXI	AUS	4	114	900000	5	321429	2820
111	D Kalyankrishna	DC	IND	3	8	30000	11	23571	2829
112	RP Singh	DC	IND	11	242	875000	11	687500	2841
113	Jacob Oram [Images]	CSK	NZ	4	67	675000	4	192857	2878
114	Rahul Dravid	BRC	IND	11	276	1035000	11	813214	2946
115	Tatenda Taibu	KKR	ZIM	3	31	125000	11	98214	3134
116	R Sarwan	KXI	WI	4	50	225000	10	160714	3214
117	MS Dhoni	CSK	IND	11	364	1500000	11	1178571	3238
118	Dilhara Fernando	MI	SL	2	33	150000	10	107143	3247
119	Dinesh Karthik	DD	IND	11	138	525000	12	450000	3261
120	Parthiv Patel	CSK	IND	8	74	325000	11	255357	3451
121	Bharat Chipli	BRC	IND	3	7	30000	11	23571	3536
122	Murali Kartik [Images]	KKR	IND	6	94	425000	11	333929	3540
123	Taruwar Kohli	RR	IND	1	6	30000	10	21429	3571
124	M Muralitharan	CSK	SL	10	130	600000	11	471429	3626
125	Chamara Silva	DC	SL	1	19	100000	11	78571	4064
126	Daniel Vettori [Images]	DD	NZ	2	42	625000	4	178571	4252
127	Wilkin Mota	KXI	IND	2	5	30000	10	21429	4592
128	Shoaib Malik	DD	PAK	7	84	500000	11	392857	4658
129	Jacques Kallis	BRC	SA	9	149	900000	11	707143	4746
130	Ishant Sharma	KKR	IND	11	134	950000	11	746429	5557
131	Mohd Kaif	RR	IND	10	78	675000	10	482143	6181
132	H Gibbs	DC	SA	6	64	575000	11	451786	7059
133	Cameron White	BRC	AUS	6	55	500000	11	392857	7100
134	Anil Kumble [Images]	BRC	IND	7	55	500000	11	392857	7100
135	Manoj Tiwary	DD	IND	7	81	675000	12	578571	7114
136	Mohd Asif	DD	PAK	7	71	650000	11	510714	7227
137	Ricky Ponting [Images]	KKR	AUS	4	15	400000	4	114286	7453
138	Pankaj Singh	RR	IND	2	2	30000	10	21429	10714
139	T Srivastava	KXI	IND	2	2	30000	10	21429	10714
140	Brett Geeves	DD	AUS	1	3	50000	12	42857	14286
141	Iqbal Abdulla	KKR	IND	1	1	30000	11	23571	17679
142	S Chanderpaul	BRC	WI	3	9	200000	11	157143	18132
143	Sachin Tendulkar	MI	IND	3	35	1121250	10	800893	22667
144	Sunil Joshi	BRC	IND	4	1	30000	11	23571	35357

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

Table 2: IPL's most valuable players (after 43 matches; as on 20 May 2008, 4 pm)

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

Srinivas Bhogle, Purnendu Maji and Arthur DSilva work for Cranes Software International [Get Quote] Limited,