Purnendu Maji and Srinivas Bhogle present Rediff's Most Valuable Player Index of IPL 2026 after the league stage.
What's the probability that Vaibhav Sooryavanshi will be the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of this year's IPL?
He is certainly a strong runner (tops the MVPI table now with 794), and would become the favourite if Rajasthan Royals defeat Sunrisers Hyderabad for two reasons.
One, he'll get a second match to play, and the rival SRH batters will not get a second match to play!
Exactly the same argument will favour Abhishek Sharma (MVPI of 753) or Ishan Kishan (738) should SRH defeat RR.
The only batter who could take away the crown from this formidable left-handed Indian trio is Shubman Gill (757) who is guaranteed two matches.
There are no other serious contenders in the mix except the fourth left-handed opener Sai Sudharsan (703) who too is guaranteed two matches.
Is this an occasion to celebrate or grieve? It is indeed worrying if the IPL starts favouring left-handed openers unduly. We still want a contest between bat and ball.
We notice that some other ranking schemes are tweaking their formula to accommodate bowlers in the top three or top five. But the grim reality is that the game itself has turned so biased in favour of batters; it's therefore not a surprise if they top the charts.
Top 50 Performing Players In IPL 2026 (after league stage ending 24.5.26)
| Rank | Player's Name | Team | From | Runs | Strike Rate | Wickets | Economy | Games | MVPI | PVI(US$) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vaibhav Sooryavanshi | RR | IND | 583 | 231.3 | 0 | - | 14 | 794 | 149 |
| 2 | Shubman Gill | GT | IND | 616 | 161.7 | 0 | - | 13 | 757 | 2344 |
| 3 | Abhishek Sharma | SRH | IND | 563 | 206.2 | 0 | 10.1 | 14 | 753 | 1999 |
| 4 | Ishan Kishan | SRH | IND | 569 | 178.4 | 0 | - | 14 | 738 | 1639 |
| 5 | Heinrich Klaasen | SRH | SA | 606 | 159.5 | 0 | - | 14 | 714 | 3464 |
| 6 | Sai Sudharsan | GT | IND | 638 | 157.9 | 0 | - | 14 | 706 | 1295 |
| 7 | K L Rahul | DC | IND | 593 | 174.4 | 0 | - | 14 | 703 | 2141 |
| 8 | Virat Kohli | RCB | IND | 557 | 163.8 | 0 | - | 14 | 652 | 3463 |
| 9 | Jos Buttler | GT | ENG | 469 | 155.3 | 0 | - | 14 | 644 | 2630 |
| 10 | Mitchell Marsh | LSG | AUS | 563 | 163.2 | 0 | - | 13 | 633 | 578 |
| 11 | Prabhsimran Singh | PBKS | IND | 510 | 168.9 | 0 | - | 14 | 612 | 703 |
| 12 | Shreyas Iyer | PBKS | IND | 498 | 168.8 | 0 | - | 14 | 602 | 4778 |
| 13 | Dhruv Jurel | RR | IND | 458 | 149.7 | 0 | - | 14 | 601 | 2505 |
| 14 | Ryan Rickelton | MI | SA | 448 | 188.2 | 0 | - | 12 | 593 | 181 |
| 15 | Cooper Connolly | PBKS | AUS | 491 | 163.1 | 0 | - | 14 | 573 | 563 |
| 16 | Devdutt Padikkal | RCB | IND | 433 | 171.8 | 0 | - | 14 | 569 | 378 |
| 17 | Sanju Samson | CSK | IND | 477 | 165.6 | 0 | - | 14 | 567 | 3414 |
| 18 | Bhuvneshwar Kumar | RCB | IND | 34 | 130.8 | 24 | 8.1 | 14 | 527 | 2193 |
| 19 | Rajat Patidar | RCB | IND | 393 | 183.6 | 0 | - | 13 | 507 | 2333 |
| 20 | Jofra Archer | RR | ENG | 53 | 139.5 | 21 | 8.8 | 14 | 496 | 2710 |
| 21 | Priyansh Arya | PBKS | IND | 364 | 211.6 | 0 | - | 14 | 482 | 848 |
| 22 | Kagiso Rabada | GT | SA | 35 | 116.7 | 24 | 9.2 | 14 | 471 | 2454 |
| 23 | Yashasvi Jaiswal | RR | IND | 397 | 159.4 | 0 | - | 14 | 463 | 4180 |
| 24 | Finn Allen | KKR | NZ | 349 | 214.1 | 0 | - | 11 | 460 | 468 |
| 25 | Angkrish Raghuvanshi | KKR | IND | 422 | 146.5 | 0 | - | 13 | 457 | 706 |
| 26 | Travis Head | SRH | AUS | 393 | 168.7 | 1 | 7 | 14 | 457 | 3294 |
| 27 | Cameron Green | KKR | AUS | 322 | 145.7 | 7 | 10.6 | 14 | 451 | 6008 |
| 28 | Sunil Narine | KKR | WI | 40 | 125 | 15 | 6.6 | 13 | 440 | 2933 |
| 29 | Axar Patel | DC | IND | 173 | 131.1 | 11 | 8.2 | 14 | 424 | 4184 |
| 30 | Nitish Kumar Reddy | SRH | IND | 264 | 169.2 | 7 | 10.7 | 13 | 424 | 1522 |
| 31 | Tilak Varma | MI | IND | 359 | 145.9 | 0 | - | 14 | 421 | 2043 |
| 32 | Jamie Overton | CSK | ENG | 136 | 158.1 | 14 | 8.9 | 10 | 404 | 3992 |
| 33 | Rashid Khan | GT | AFG | 35 | 120.7 | 19 | 8.7 | 14 | 400 | 4839 |
| 34 | Krunal Pandya | RCB | IND | 182 | 145.6 | 11 | 9 | 14 | 388 | 1594 |
| 35 | Anshul Kamboj | CSK | IND | 58 | 152.6 | 21 | 10.5 | 14 | 381 | 9596 |
| 36 | Jason Holder | GT | WI | 58 | 131.8 | 13 | 7.3 | 8 | 379 | 1986 |
| 37 | Ravindra Jadeja | RR | AUS | 209 | 136.6 | 8 | 8.1 | 12 | 372 | 4047 |
| 38 | Eshan Malinga | SRH | SA | 2 | 22.2 | 19 | 9.3 | 14 | 370 | 349 |
| 39 | Donovan Ferreira | RR | SA | 267 | 170.1 | 1 | 13.7 | 13 | 369 | 291 |
| 40 | Washington Sundar | GT | IND | 303 | 153.8 | 1 | 8.5 | 14 | 368 | 935 |
| 41 | Naman Dhir | MI | IND | 318 | 147.2 | 0 | - | 14 | 366 | 1542 |
| 42 | Rishabh Pant | LSG | IND | 312 | 138.1 | 0 | - | 14 | 363 | 7998 |
| 43 | Rinku Singh | KKR | IND | 295 | 149 | 0 | - | 14 | 362 | 3861 |
| 44 | Mohammed Siraj | GT | IND | 0 | 0 | 17 | 8.6 | 14 | 347 | 3796 |
| 45 | Tim David | RCB | AUS | 277 | 197.9 | 0 | 18 | 14 | 347 | 930 |
| 46 | Ajinkya Rahane | KKR | IND | 335 | 135.1 | 0 | - | 14 | 346 | 466 |
| 47 | Ruturaj Gaikwad | CSK | IND | 337 | 123.4 | 0 | - | 14 | 340 | 5693 |
| 48 | Riyan Parag | RR | IND | 272 | 152.8 | 2 | 9.5 | 12 | 335 | 4494 |
| 49 | Kartik Tyagi | KKR | IND | 11 | 110 | 18 | 9.8 | 14 | 325 | 99 |
| 50 | Josh Inglis | LSG | AUS | 266 | 186 | 0 | - | 5 | 324 | 2854 |
MVPI: Most Valuable Player Index = 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.
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunai/Rediff
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