You have to search really hard to find names of Indian players in the list of the "most valuable players" so far in the ICC World Twenty20. Yuvraj Singh is at the sixth position... but then there's practically no one else! After you run your finger down the list for quite a while you'll run into Pragyan Ojha at No. 22, Yusuf Pathan at No. 24 and Rohit Sharma at No. 25.
The most valuable player index (MVPI) collapses a player's batting, bowling and fielding performance into a single runs equivalent. Batsmen scoring a lot of runs with a good strike rate and bowlers taking a lot of wickets with a low economy rate usually figure at the top of the list.
For the ICC World Twenty20, we have assumed a par score of 160, i.e., 8 runs per over. We have further assumed that every wicket is 'worth' 16 marks, and every catch or stumping is worth 4 runs.
Batsmen get bonus runs if they score more than 8 runs in 6 runs, i.e. have a strike rate greater than 133; but they are penalized runs if they have a strike rate below 133. Since T20 cricket is all about hitting fours and sixes, we also add a 'bonus' run for every four, and two bonus runs for every six.
Bowlers get bonus runs if they concede less than 8 runs per over; but are penalized if they concede more than 8 runs in an over.
Consider, for example, Dwayne Bravo, currently placed second. He has hit 136 runs so far at a strike rate of almost 150. This converts to 172 runs, with 15 bonus runs added because of the higher strike rate, 11 runs for the 11 fours and 10 runs for the 5 sixes (136+15+11+10 = 172). Bravo's 6 wickets fetch him 96 more 'runs'; but this goes down to 86, because Bravo is penalized 10 runs since he conceded 8.7 runs per over. Bravo also took a catch worth 4 runs, and therefore ended up with 172+86+4 = 262 'runs'.
The table below ranks the 100 most valuable players. This list was calculated after India's loss last night to England.
| Rank | Player | Team | Runs | Four | Six | Strike rate | W | Eco | MVPI |
| 1 | Lendl Simmons | WI | 150 | 22 | 1 | 141.5 | 5 | 8.2 | 274 |
| 2 | Dwayne Bravo | WI | 136 | 11 | 5 | 149.5 | 6 | 8.7 | 262 |
| 3 | Jacques Kallis | SA | 174 | 21 | 3 | 129.9 | 3 | 7.1 | 256 |
| 4 | Tillakaratne Dilshan | SL | 173 | 29 | 1 | 144.2 | 0 | -- | 229 |
| 5 | Umar Gul | PAK | 17 | 1 | 1 | 170.0 | 10 | 6.7 | 209 |
| 6 | Yuvraj Singh | IND | 128 | 9 | 8 | 173.0 | 1 | 8.0 | 206 |
| 7 | AB de Villiers | SA | 122 | 9 | 6 | 190.6 | 0 | -- | 184 |
| 8 | Shahid Afridi | PAK | 23 | 1 | 1 | 100.0 | 7 | 5.4 | 183 |
| 9 | Lasith Malinga | SL | 3 | 0 | 0 | 100.0 | 10 | 7.3 | 177 |
| 10 | Wayne Parnell | SA | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | 8 | 5.1 | 176 |
| 11 | Younis Khan | PAK | 132 | 9 | 3 | 150.0 | 0 | -- | 174 |
| 12 | Roelof van der Merwe | SA | 1 | 0 | 0 | 11.1 | 8 | 5.8 | 165 |
| 13 | Brendon McCullum | NZ | 97 | 12 | 1 | 119.8 | 0 | -- | 160 |
| 14 | Kevin Pietersen | ENG | 123 | 14 | 4 | 150.0 | 0 | 9.0 | 158 |
| 15 | Luke Wright | ENG | 107 | 14 | 1 | 137.2 | 1 | 8.3 | 156 |
| 16 | Sanath Jayasuriya | SL | 136 | 17 | 4 | 129.5 | 0 | 9.4 | 151 |
| 17 | Alex Cusack | IRL | 34 | 3 | 1 | 161.9 | 7 | 8.6 | 149 |
| 18 | Ajantha Mendis | SL | 4 | 1 | 0 | 400.0 | 7 | 6.1 | 149 |
| 19 | Chris Gayle | WI | 115 | 10 | 6 | 133.7 | 0 | 6.6 | 148 |
| 20 | Saeed Ajmal | PAK | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | 7 | 5.8 | 143 |
| 21 | Graeme Smith | SA | 113 | 18 | 1 | 116.5 | 0 | -- | 137 |
| 22 | Pragyan Ojha | IND | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | 7 | 6.2 | 136 |
| 23 | Trent Johnston | IRL | 23 | 0 | 2 | 153.3 | 5 | 6.8 | 133 |
| 24 | Yusuf Pathan | IND | 65 | 4 | 3 | 158.5 | 2 | 7.6 | 132 |
| 25 | Rohit Sharma | IND | 102 | 9 | 3 | 129.1 | 1 | -- | 130 |
| 26 | Stuart Broad | ENG | 12 | 1 | 0 | 133.3 | 5 | 6.0 | 129 |
| 27 | Dale Steyn | SA | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | 6 | 6.1 | 128 |
| 28 | Scott Styris | NZ | 79 | 1 | 4 | 121.5 | 2 | 7.8 | 125 |
| 29 | Kyle McCallan | IRL | 9 | 1 | 0 | 100.0 | 6 | 7.2 | 124 |
| 30 | Harbhajan Singh | IND | 13 | 3 | 0 | 325.0 | 4 | 6.9 | 121 |
| 31 | Gautam Gambhir | IND | 127 | 13 | 1 | 109.5 | 0 | -- | 118 |
| 32 | Kyle Coetzer | SCO | 75 | 4 | 5 | 159.6 | 0 | -- | 117 |
| 33 | Mahela Jayawardene | SL | 110 | 11 | 1 | 122.2 | 0 | -- | 117 |
| 34 | A J Redmond | NZ | 78 | 15 | 0 | 177.3 | 0 | -- | 112 |
| 35 | Shoaib Malik | PAK | 82 | 9 | 0 | 115.5 | 1 | 7.3 | 110 |
| 36 | Herschelle Gibbs | SA | 104 | 10 | 2 | 120.9 | 0 | -- | 107 |
| 37 | Kumar Sangakkara | SL | 78 | 5 | 2 | 105.4 | 0 | -- | 106 |
| 38 | Kamran Akmal | PAK | 71 | 4 | 3 | 120.3 | 0 | -- | 105 |
| 39 | Niall O'Brien | IRL | 74 | 7 | 3 | 112.1 | 0 | -- | 101 |
| 40 | Mashrafe Mortaza | BAN | 44 | 1 | 3 | 183.3 | 2 | 7.4 | 100 |
| 41 | Muttiah Muralitharan | SL | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 4 | 5.7 | 100 |
| 42 | Zaheer Khan | IND | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | 6 | 8.3 | 96 |
| 43 | Kyle Mills | NZ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 4 | 6.9 | 90 |
| 44 | Johan Botha | SA | 6 | 2 | 0 | 150.0 | 3 | 6.1 | 90 |
| 45 | Andre Fletcher | WI | 66 | 8 | 2 | 132.0 | 0 | -- | 89 |
| 46 | MS Dhoni | IND | 81 | 4 | 1 | 105.2 | 0 | -- | 89 |
| 47 | Martin Guptill | NZ | 59 | 2 | 4 | 131.1 | 0 | -- | 88 |
| 48 | Ian Butler | NZ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0 | 5 | 6.8 | 88 |
| 49 | Owais Shah | ENG | 88 | 7 | 3 | 106.0 | 0 | -- | 86 |
| 50 | Nathan McCullum | NZ | 7 | 1 | 0 | 63.6 | 4 | 5.3 | 86 |
| 51 | Fidel Edwards | WI | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100.0 | 6 | 9.2 | 84 |
| 52 | Jerome Taylor | WI | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 6 | 8.7 | 84 |
| 53 | Angelo Mathews | SL | 22 | 2 | 0 | 129.4 | 2 | 6.8 | 83 |
| 54 | Junaid Siddique | BAN | 54 | 5 | 3 | 200.0 | 0 | -- | 83 |
| 55 | Ravi Bopara | ENG | 90 | 9 | 1 | 109.8 | 0 | -- | 82 |
| 56 | Mitchell Johnson | AUS | 37 | 3 | 2 | 185.0 | 2 | 9.1 | 80 |
| 57 | Graeme Swann | ENG | 5 | 0 | 0 | 71.4 | 4 | 6.8 | 80 |
| 58 | David Warner | AUS | 63 | 6 | 1 | 112.5 | 1 | -- | 79 |
| 59 | John Mooney | IRL | 79 | 8 | 0 | 111.3 | 0 | -- | 79 |
| 60 | Albie Morkel | SA | 20 | 2 | 0 | 111.1 | 3 | 7.5 | 77 |
| 61 | Ryan ten Doeschate | NRL | 36 | 2 | 1 | 133.3 | 3 | 9.6 | 75 |
| 62 | Ryan Watson | SCO | 31 | 7 | 0 | 221.4 | 2 | 10.0 | 74 |
| 63 | Dimitri Mascarenhas | ENG | 42 | 3 | 0 | 100.0 | 2 | 6.4 | 74 |
| 64 | James Anderson | ENG | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 4 | 7.3 | 73 |
| 65 | Paul Collingwood | ENG | 52 | 6 | 0 | 115.6 | 1 | 8.5 | 73 |
| 66 | Naeem Islam | BAN | 35 | 0 | 3 | 134.6 | 2 | 8.2 | 72 |
| 67 | Tom de Grooth | NRL | 53 | 6 | 1 | 143.2 | 0 | -- | 69 |
| 68 | Peter Borren | NRL | 32 | 1 | 1 | 110.3 | 2 | 8.1 | 67 |
| 69 | David Hussey | AUS | 55 | 1 | 5 | 144.7 | 0 | 16.0 | 66 |
| 70 | Kevin O'Brien | IRL | 43 | 4 | 2 | 165.4 | 0 | 8.1 | 62 |
| 71 | Boyd Rankin | IRL | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | 3 | 7.6 | 61 |
| 72 | Misbah-ul-Haq | PAK | 62 | 3 | 1 | 110.7 | 0 | -- | 58 |
| 73 | Jacob Oram | NZ | 52 | 4 | 1 | 123.8 | 0 | 8.4 | 54 |
| 74 | Jean-Paul Duminy | SA | 31 | 1 | 2 | 110.7 | 1 | 8.0 | 54 |
| 75 | Shakib Al Hasan | BAN | 15 | 1 | 0 | 88.2 | 2 | 6.7 | 53 |
| 76 | Kieron Pollard | WI | 25 | 4 | 0 | 166.7 | 2 | 9.8 | 52 |
| 77 | Andre Botha | IRL | 36 | 6 | 0 | 156.5 | 0 | -- | 51 |
| 78 | Regan West | IRL | 10 | 1 | 0 | 100.0 | 2 | 7.3 | 51 |
| 79 | Peter McGlashan | NZ | 13 | 1 | 0 | 100.0 | 0 | -- | 50 |
| 80 | Salman Butt | PAK | 46 | 7 | 1 | 117.9 | 0 | -- | 49 |
| 81 | Sulieman Benn | WI | 13 | 2 | 0 | 144.4 | 1 | 7.9 | 49 |
| 82 | Darron Reekers | NRL | 33 | 4 | 2 | 173.7 | 0 | -- | 49 |
| 83 | Andrew White | IRL | 51 | 4 | 2 | 110.9 | 0 | -- | 49 |
| 84 | Mohammad Aamer | PAK | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | 3 | 8.0 | 48 |
| 85 | Pieter Seelaar | NRL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 50.0 | 3 | 8.6 | 46 |
| 86 | Ravindra Jadeja | IND | 25 | 1 | 0 | 71.4 | 2 | 6.5 | 46 |
| 87 | Ramnaresh Sarwan | WI | 44 | 2 | 0 | 112.8 | 0 | -- | 46 |
| 88 | Irfan Pathan | IND | 13 | 1 | 1 | 216.7 | 1 | 7.3 | 46 |
| 89 | Brett Lee | AUS | 16 | 2 | 1 | 266.7 | 3 | 11.9 | 45 |
| 90 | Shahzaib Hasan | PAK | 35 | 4 | 2 | 125.0 | 0 | -- | 45 |
| 91 | Jehan Mubarak | SL | 41 | 2 | 2 | 113.9 | 0 | -- | 44 |
| 92 | Mark Boucher | SA | 25 | 0 | 1 | 119.0 | 0 | -- | 44 |
| 93 | Majid Haq | SCO | 15 | 0 | 0 | 75.0 | 2 | 6.3 | 42 |
| 94 | Ross Taylor | NZ | 43 | 3 | 2 | 104.9 | 0 | -- | 42 |
| 95 | Abdul Razzaq | PAK | 5 | 0 | 0 | 62.5 | 1 | 4.9 | 42 |
| 96 | Jesse Ryder | NZ | 31 | 3 | 2 | 258.3 | 0 | 19.0 | 42 |
| 97 | Ryan Sidebottom | ENG | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | 2 | 6.8 | 42 |
| 98 | James Foster | ENG | 24 | 0 | 1 | 120.0 | 0 | -- | 39 |
| 99 | Adil Rashid | ENG | 9 | 0 | 0 | 52.9 | 2 | 7.0 | 39 |
| 100 | Chamara Silva | SL | 30 | 3 | 0 | 100.0 | 0 | -- | 39 |
The Indian captain is at No. 46, with a disappointing strike rate of 105, chiefly because M S Dhoni seems to have temporarily lost his ability to hit fours and sixes.
If it's any consolation, the Australian captain Ricky Ponting doesn't figure even in the top 100. Ishant Sharma is at No. 104 and Suresh Raina - who did so well in IPL2 - is at No. 109!
Srinivas Bhogle works for TEOCO Software Pvt Ltd. Purnendu Maji carried out the statistical analysis.
