The top 40 paisa vasool list after 43 matches

After the first 43 matches of IPL's second season, Matthew Hayden [ Images ] already looks poised to become this year's most valuable player, especially because Chennai Super Kings [ Images ] seem quite certain of entering the semi-finals. Only an injury can halt Hayden's successful march.

Just behind him is another 'retired' Australian: Adam Gilchrist [ Images ], who played another blazing knock last night against Delhi Daredevils [ Images ].

Even last year two Australians topped the IPL MVP list: Shane Watson [ Images ] and Shaun Marsh [ Images ].

An Indian supporter will find sufficient reassurance if he looks down the list: many of the players selected for India's [ Images ] Twenty20 [ Images ] World Cup team are performing well: Suresh Raina [ Images ], Rohit Sharma [ Images ], Yusuf Pathan [ Images ], Yuvraj Singh [ Images ], Ravindra Jadeja [ Images ] … etc.  Only Dinesh Karthik [ Images ] will be missed.

Table 1: The 40 most valuable players so far in IPL 2009 (after 43 matches)

The next table shows how IPL's most expensive players are faring.

Table 2: The 40 most expensive players so far in IPL 2009 (after 43 matches)

The 'outstanding' (PVI below 1000) players are: Suresh Raina and Yusuf Pathan. The 'excellent' (PVI between 1000 and 1500) players are: Adam Gilchrist, Dinesh Karthik and Mahela Jayawardene [ Images ]. The 'very good' (PVI between 1500 and 2000) players include: Andrew Symonds [ Images ], J-P Duminy [ Images ], Rohit Sharma and Anil Kumble.

The players who are looking like poor buys (PVI over 4000) at the moment are: Kevin Pietersen [ Images ], Andrew Flintoff [ Images ], Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, Robin Uthappa, Jacob Oram and S Sreesanth.

However, the two biggest shockers are Manoj Tiwary and Tyron Henderson!