T20 World Cup: One Boundary Away: Samson Misses MVPI Crown

Purnendu Maji and Srinivas Bhogle present Rediff's Most Valuable Player Index of T20 World Cup 2026.

Sanju Samson

IMAGE: Sanju Samson delivered explosive knocks in the last three matches of the T20 World Cup. Photograph: Courtesy BCCI/X

Key Points

Pakistan's Sahibzada Farhan topped the MVPI table with 442 points.
Sanju Samson finished second with 437, needing just one extra boundary to lead.
Ishan Kishan (432) secured third place, narrowly ahead of England's Will Jacks (429) in the rankings.
MVPI measures overall impact by rewarding fast scoring, wicket-taking with economy, and strong fielding contributions.

Samson Misses MVPI Lead

Sanju Samson needed just an extra boundary to top the MVPI table at the end of the T20 World Cup final, but failed (this is most unlikely to bother him!).

Pakistan]s Sahibzada Farhan with a MVPI of 442 ended at the top of the table, Sanju Samson was second with a MVPI of 437. Ishan Kishan (432) edged out Will Jacks (429) to end as #3.

The Most Valuable Player Index rewards batters who score a lot of runs quickly, bowlers who take a lot of wickets with good economy rates and fielders who take the most catches and participate in the most run outs.

Originally created for Rediff in 2001, MVPI is a performance metric that still summarises the overall picture rather well.

How MVPI Measures Impact

Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson

IMAGE: Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson celebrate a boundary. Photograph: Anushree Fadnavis/Reuters

In the 2026 T20 World Cup we saw, for the first time, capability metrics like power, attack and timing (for batting) and threat, control and variation (for bowling).

These metrics use richer data, and will certainly add to the cricket analytics experience, although, for now, they do occasionally puzzle or befuddle.

Rank	Player	Team	MVPI	Top Score	Runs	4s	6s	Strike Rate	Wkts	Economy Rate	Games
1	Sahibzada Farhan	PAK	442	100	383	37	18	160.3	0	-	6
2	Sanju Samson	IND	437	97	321	27	24	199.4	0	-	5
3	Ishan Kishan	IND	432	77	317	33	18	193.3	0	-	9
4	Will Jacks	ENG	429	53	226	18	14	176.6	9	9.8	8
5	Tim Seifert	NZ	409	89	326	34	16	166.3	0	-	8
6	Hardik Pandya	IND	399	52	217	13	15	160.7	9	8.8	9
7	Finn Allen	NZ	395	100	298	25	20	200	0	-	8
8	Jason Holder	WI	379	49	141	7	13	174.1	10	8.9	7
9	Aiden Markram	SA	353	86	286	32	11	165.3	1	11.3	8
10	Rachin Ravindra	NZ	349	59	129	11	5	134.4	12	7.8	8
11	Shimron Hetmyer	WI	343	85	248	16	19	186.5	0	-	7
12	Jacob Bethell	ENG	332	105	280	25	14	152.2	0	13	8
13	Shivam Dube	IND	330	66	235	15	17	169.1	5	14.1	9
14	Sikandar Raza	ZIM	315	73	206	17	13	164.8	5	9	6
15	Jasprit Bumrah	IND	311	0	0	0	0	0	14	6.2	8
16	Glenn Phillips	NZ	299	76	181	17	8	157.4	3	9	8
17	Harry Brook	ENG	297	100	235	21	9	159.9	0	-	8
18	Dasun Shanaka	SL	293	76	165	5	15	187.5	3	9	7
19	Brian Bennett	ZIM	291	97	292	32	7	134.6	0	8.6	6
20	Tilak Varma	IND	287	44	207	18	11	154.5	1	5.5	9
21	Ryan Rickelton	SA	286	61	228	17	15	170.1	0	-	8
22	Ben Manenti	ITA	273	60	138	11	8	179.2	5	7.4	4
23	Azmatullah Omarzai	AFG	271	40	89	5	6	171.2	9	8.2	4
24	Bas de Leede	NET	266	72	158	13	6	139.8	5	7.8	4
25	Marco Jansen	SA	258	55	73	4	6	169.8	11	10.5	6
26	Lungi Ngidi	SA	248	0	0	0	0	-	12	7.2	7
27	Shadley Van Schalkwyk	USA	247	2	3	0	0	42.9	13	6.8	4
28	Maheesh Theekshana	SL	246	10	11	1	0	122.2	11	7.4	7
29	Dunith Wellalage	SL	243	29	72	8	1	118	8	7.2	7
30	Sherfane Rutherford	WI	242	76	183	11	13	179.4	0	-	7
31	Sam Curran	ENG	238	43	167	9	8	120.1	6	9.5	8
32	Suryakumar Yadav	IND	238	84	242	21	10	136.7	0	-	9
33	Adil Rashid	ENG	231	1	1	0	0	50	13	8.2	8
34	Quinton de Kock	SA	231	59	181	19	9	135.1	0	-	8
35	Axar Patel	IND	230	14	16	2	0	106.7	11	8.2	7
36	Dewald Brevis	SA	229	45	207	12	14	146.8	0	-	8
37	Pathum Nissanka	SL	229	100	211	23	6	147.6	0	-	7
38	Bradley Evans	ZIM	229	43	51	2	6	159.4	10	9.2	6
39	Blessing Muzarabani	ZIM	229	0	0	0	0	0	13	7.9	6
40	Dipendra Singh Airee	NEP	228	58	169	13	7	144.4	2	6.8	4
41	Corbin Bosch	SA	228	5	7	1	0	77.8	11	7.6	7
42	Pavan Rathnayake	SL	227	60	205	21	6	154.1	0	-	7
43	Jamie Overton	ENG	224	15	32	1	2	103.2	9	7.5	6
44	Mitchell Santner	NZ	223	47	120	7	8	142.9	2	6.6	7
45	Shadab Khan	PAK	223	36	118	11	4	153.2	5	8.4	6
46	Varun Chakaravarthy	IND	219	1	1	0	0	20	14	9.3	9
47	Shai Hope	WI	214	75	217	19	10	130.7	0	-	7
48	Kamindu Mendis	SL	213	44	117	11	5	164.8	2	7.3	7
49	George Dockrell	IRE	212	41	85	4	7	188.9	4	6	3
50	Gerhard Erasmus	NAM	210	18	49	3	3	136.1	7	7.5	4