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Rediff.com  » Sports » Are 'fresh' players more paisa vasool?

Are 'fresh' players more paisa vasool?

By Srinivas Bhogle
April 30, 2009 22:01 IST
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The two best players in the second season of the Indian Premier League -- Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist -- haven't played competitive cricket for a year.

Four among IPL's five best players are coming in relatively 'fresh' and only AB de Villiers among them has had a full cricket season. Lasith Malinga is returning from injury, and Irfan Pathan isn't a regular in India's playing eleven in ODIs and Tests.

The table below lists IPL second season's top 30 players after the first 20 matches. Note that about 20 (*) of these top 30 players can be classified as 'fresh' or 'sufficiently fresh'. It will be interesting to remember that Sri Lankan players haven't played competitive cricket after the Lahore incident. So they too haven't had a surfeit of international cricket.

Player Team From Runs Strike Rate W Eco M MVPI Money ($) PVI Age
M Hayden* CSK AUS 215 162.9 0 -- 4 277 375000 464 37
Adam Gilchrist* DC AUS 163 171.6 0 -- 4 247 700000 811 37
AB de Villiers DD SA 176 150.4 0 -- 4 229 300000 375 25
Lasith Malinga* MI SL 0 -- 11 4.0 4 216 350000 557 25
Irfan Pathan* KXI IND 84 125.4 7 7.3 5 192 925000 1718 24
Sachin Tendulkar MI IND 164 129.1 0 6.0 4 190 1121250 2026 36
Anil Kumble* BRC IND 7 77.8 8 5.5 6 178 500000 1207 38
Rahul Dravid* BRC IND 144 135.8 0 -- 4 175 1035000 2372 36
K Pietersen BRC ENG 93 109.4 4 6.5 6 160 1550000 4145 28
T Dilshan* DD SL 124 147.6 0 4.0 4 159 250000 451 32
Herschelle Gibbs DC SA 140 130.8 0 -- 4 158 575000 1038 35
RP Singh* DC IND 4 100.0 9 6.7 4 158 875000 1582 23
K Sangakkara* KXI SL 165 111.5 0 -- 5 157 700000 1592 31
Yusuf Pathan RR IND 125 160.3 0 7.3 4 155 475000 1054 26
Suresh Raina CSK IND 102 121.4 2 4.5 4 153 650000 1461 22
Pragyan Ojha * DC IND 0 0.0 8 5.2 4 150 30000 57 22
Chris Gayle KKR WI 147 123.5 0 8.7 5 147 800000 2255 29
Dwayne Bravo* MI WI 44 93.6 7 8.3 4 143 150000 360 25
Sanath Jayasuriya* MI SL 79 129.5 4 8.5 4 142 975000 2358 39
Yusuf Abdulla* KXI SA 0 -- 9 7.3 5 138 50000 130 26
Abhishek Nayar* MI IND 63 165.8 3 4.3 4 137 100000 250 25
Ravi Bopara* KXI ENG 138 116.0 0 3.8 5 136 450000 1180 24
Ishant Sharma KKR IND 16 123.1 6 6.2 5 135 950000 2910 20
Harbhajan Singh MI IND 48 208.7 3 6.2 4 134 850000 2179 28
Kamran Khan* RR IND 3 60.0 6 5.9 4 133 30000 77 18
Praveen Kumar* BRC IND 35 134.6 6 7.5 5 132 300000 942 22
Shane Warne* RR AUS 39 84.8 6 7.0 4 131 450000 1182 39
Jean-Paul Duminy MI SA 133 107.3 1 7.7 4 130 950000 2515 25
Rohit Sharma* DC IND 73 135.2 1 6.5 4 129 750000 1668 22
D Mascarenhas* RR ENG 31 100.0 6 6.6 4 127 100000 269 31

Now, lets have a look at the performance of players in the IPL, who have come in after a very crowded and strenuous cricket season.

Player Team From Runs Strike Rate W Eco M MVPI Money ($) PVI Age
Ishant Sharma KKR IND 16 123.1 6 6.2 5 135 950000 2910 20
Harbhajan Singh MI IND 48 208.7 3 6.2 4 134 850000 2179 28
J-P Duminy MI SA 133 107.3 1 7.7 4 130 950000 2515 25
Daniel Vettori DD NZ 29 103.6 6 8.5 4 119 625000 1507 30
Yuvraj Singh KXI IND 96 133.3 0 7.4 5 111 1063750 3438 27
MS Dhoni CSK IND 79 114.5 0 -- 4 95 1500000 5399 27
V Sehwag DD IND 67 163.4 0 -- 4 90 833750 2639 30
Jesse Ryder BRC NZ 32 133.3 3 7.3 3 89 160000 697 24
Jacques Kallis BRC SA 124 118.1 1 12.3 5 87 900000 4273 33
A Flintoff CSK ENG 62 117.0 2 9.5 3 81 1550000 4088 31
Mark Boucher BRC SA 61 148.8 0 -- 2 75 450000 2236 32
Zaheer Khan MI IND 6 66.7 2 6.6 4 60 450000 2582 30
Ross Taylor BRC NZ 67 109.8 0 13.0 4 52 100000 766 25
Albie Morkel CSK SA 31 129.2 2 9.1 3 52 650000 4147 27
B McCullum KKR NZ 26 74.3 0 -- 4 43 700000 6550 27
Dale Steyn BRC SA 0 0.0 2 6.9 3 36 325000 3506 25
G Gambhir DD IND 39 100.0 0 -- 4 29 725000 7082 27
Graeme Smith RR AUS 63 75.0 0 -- 4 25 475000 6514 28

If we look at this list 'bottom up', we find that some of the season's most successful players are struggling: Graeme Smith, Gautam Gambhir, Zaheer Khan, Jacques Kallis … and even Virender Sehwag, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh! These players aren't even averaging 25 'runs' per match, and costing the franchise upwards of US $2500 for every run scored.

Finally, we will look at how the 30 most expensive players in the IPL are currently performing.

Player Team From Runs Strike Rate W Eco M MVPI Money ($) PVI Age
K Pietersen BRC ENG 93 109.4 4 6.5 6 160 1550000 4145 28
A Flintoff CSK ENG 62 117.0 2 9.5 3 81 1550000 4088 31
MS Dhoni CSK IND 79 114.5 0 -- 4 95 1500000 5399 27
Sachin Tendulkar MI IND 164 129.1 0 6.0 4 190 1121250 2026 36
Sourav Ganguly KKR IND 82 102.5 2 8.0 5 89 1092500 5114 36
Yuvraj Singh KXI IND 96 133.3 0 7.4 5 111 1063750 3438 27
Rahul Dravid BRC IND 144 135.8 0 -- 4 175 1035000 2372 36
Sanath Jayasuriya MI SL 79 129.5 4 8.5 4 142 975000 2358 39
Ishant Sharma KKR IND 16 123.1 6 6.2 5 135 950000 2910 20
Jean-Paul Duminy MI SA 133 107.3 1 7.7 4 130 950000 2515 25
Irfan Pathan KXI IND 84 125.4 7 7.3 5 192 925000 1718 24
Jacques Kallis BRC SA 124 118.1 1 12.3 5 87 900000 4273 33
RP Singh DC IND 4 100.0 9 6.7 4 158 875000 1582 23
Harbhajan Singh MI IND 48 208.7 3 6.2 4 134 850000 2179 28
Virender Sehwag DD IND 67 163.4 0 -- 4 90 833750 2639 30
Chris Gayle KKR WI 147 123.5 0 8.7 5 147 800000 2255 29
Robin Uthappa BRC IND 38 71.7 0 -- 5 40 800000 8234 23
Rohit Sharma DC IND 73 135.2 1 6.5 4 129 750000 1668 22
Gautam Gambhir DD IND 39 100.0 0 -- 4 29 725000 7082 27
Adam Gilchrist DC AUS 163 171.6 0 -- 4 247 700000 811 37
K Sangakkara KXI SL 165 111.5 0 -- 5 157 700000 1592 31
B McCullum KKR NZ 26 74.3 0 -- 4 43 700000 6550 27
Jacob Oram CSK NZ 49 140.0 1 8.3 2 79 675000 2694 30
Manoj Tiwary DD IND 9 69.2 0 11.0 2 13 675000 13100 23
Suresh Raina CSK IND 102 121.4 2 4.5 4 153 650000 1461 22
Albie Morkel CSK SA 31 129.2 2 9.1 3 52 650000 4147 27
Tyron Henderson RR SA 11 73.3 1 7.5 1 18 650000 10685 34
Daniel Vettori DD NZ 29 103.6 6 8.5 4 119 625000 1507 30
M Muralitharan CSK SL 0 0.0 4 4.9 3 91 600000 2160 37
Mashrafe Mortaza KKR BAN 0 -- 0 -- 0 0 600000 -- 25

A look at the paisa vasool index (PVI) column suggests that Kevin Pietersen, Andrew Flintoff, Dhoni, Sourav Ganguly, Jacques Kallis, Robin Uthappa, Gautam Gambhir, Brendon McCullum, Manoj Tiwary, Albie Morkel and Tyron Henderson -- with a PVI exceeding 4000 -- are currently not good value for money, at least on the cricket field.

Srinivas Bhogle now works for TEOCO Software Pvt Ltd. This note is based on the detailed IPL1 analysis carried out by Purnendu Maji in 2008. The paisa vasool index uses a model developed by M J Manohar Rao and Rajeeva L Karandikar.

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Srinivas Bhogle

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