You do wonder why this is so, especially because top Indian players earn significantly higher amounts than their international counterparts with similar or greater ability.
Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji identify the Most Valuable Players in the IPL so far.
The Most Valuable Player Index (MVPI) tries to encapsulate the cricketers' performances in terms of a 'run equivalent'.
What's especially interesting is to see the England rivalry between Jonny Bairstow and Jos Buttler spilling over into the IPL, with Bairstow enjoying a slender advantage.
The table lists the top 50 as at midnight, April 14, 2019.
Curiously, the top 10 has only two Indians: K L Rahul (MVPI: 353) and Rishabh Pant (MVPI: 343).
You do wonder why this is so, especially because top Indian players earn significantly higher amounts than their international counterparts with similar or greater ability.
Best performing players so far at IPL 12 (after game 30 ending April 14, 2019)
| Rank | Player's Name | Team | From | Run | Top Score | 4's | 6's | Strike Rate | W | Eco | M | MVPI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andre Russell | KKR | WI | 312 | 62 | 21 | 30 | 213.7 | 6 | 10.1 | 8 | 499 |
| 2 | David Warner | SRH | AUS | 400 | 100 | 34 | 12 | 140.4 | 0 | - | 7 | 424 |
| 3 | Jonny Bairstow | SRH | ENG | 304 | 114 | 38 | 11 | 156.7 | 0 | - | 7 | 381 |
| 4 | Chris Gayle | KXI | WI | 322 | 99 | 28 | 23 | 157.1 | 0 | - | 7 | 371 |
| 5 | Jos Buttler | RR | ENG | 288 | 89 | 37 | 12 | 153.2 | 0 | - | 7 | 353 |
| 6 | KL Rahul | KXI | IND | 335 | 100 | 27 | 11 | 130.9 | 0 | - | 8 | 353 |
| 7 | Rishabh Pant | DC | IND | 245 | 78 | 22 | 12 | 161.2 | 0 | - | 8 | 343 |
| 8 | Kagiso Rabada | DC | SA | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 71.4 | 17 | 7.7 | 8 | 336 |
| 9 | Imran Tahir | CSK | SA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 13 | 5.8 | 8 | 283 |
| 10 | Quinton de Kock | MI | SA | 238 | 81 | 22 | 9 | 136 | 0 | - | 7 | 279 |
| 11 | AB de Villiers | RCB | SA | 232 | 70 | 17 | 13 | 156.8 | 0 | - | 7 | 271 |
| 12 | Shikhar Dhawan | DC | IND | 256 | 97 | 30 | 4 | 126.7 | 0 | - | 8 | 271 |
| 13 | Shreyas Iyer | DC | IND | 266 | 67 | 28 | 7 | 120.4 | 0 | - | 8 | 269 |
| 14 | Hardik Pandya | MI | IND | 149 | 32 | 9 | 11 | 184 | 6 | 10.3 | 7 | 262 |
| 15 | MS Dhoni | CSK | IND | 230 | 75 | 12 | 10 | 127.1 | 0 | - | 8 | 259 |
| 16 | Virat Kohli | RCB | IND | 270 | 84 | 27 | 4 | 126.2 | 0 | - | 7 | 255 |
| 17 | Nitish Rana | KKR | IND | 201 | 68 | 14 | 13 | 144.6 | 2 | 8.5 | 8 | 250 |
| 18 | Kieron Pollard | MI | WI | 185 | 83 | 7 | 17 | 177.9 | 0 | - | 7 | 243 |
| 19 | Ravindra Jadeja | CSK | IND | 55 | 31 | 5 | 2 | 134.1 | 7 | 6.5 | 8 | 238 |
| 20 | Mayank Agarwal | KXI | IND | 199 | 58 | 15 | 9 | 140.1 | 0 | - | 7 | 225 |
| 21 | Shreyas Gopal | RR | IND | 33 | 19 | 4 | 1 | 183.3 | 8 | 6.4 | 7 | 220 |
| 22 | Robin Uthappa | KKR | IND | 211 | 67 | 24 | 6 | 128.7 | 0 | - | 8 | 219 |
| 23 | Prithvi Shaw | DC | IND | 187 | 99 | 25 | 5 | 152 | 0 | - | 8 | 214 |
| 24 | R Ashwin | KXI | IND | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 75 | 9 | 7.6 | 8 | 213 |
| 25 | Chris Lynn | KKR | AUS | 212 | 82 | 22 | 12 | 134.2 | 0 | - | 7 | 213 |
| 26 | Deepak Chahar | CSK | IND | 7 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 100 | 10 | 6.6 | 8 | 211 |
| 27 | Parthiv Patel | RCB | IND | 191 | 67 | 25 | 2 | 129.1 | 0 | - | 7 | 205 |
| 28 | YuzvendraChahal | RCB | IND | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 37.5 | 11 | 7.1 | 7 | 201 |
| 29 | Mohd Nabi | SRH | AFG | 40 | 17 | 2 | 2 | 133.3 | 7 | 5.5 | 4 | 200 |
| 30 | Sunil Narine | KKR | WI | 89 | 47 | 9 | 6 | 164.8 | 5 | 7.4 | 6 | 199 |
| 31 | Jofra Archer | RR | WI | 39 | 24 | 2 | 2 | 156 | 7 | 7.2 | 7 | 198 |
| 32 | Suresh Raina | CSK | IND | 194 | 58 | 23 | 5 | 119 | 0 | 6 | 8 | 197 |
| 33 | Sanju Samson | RR | IND | 177 | 102 | 14 | 6 | 145.1 | 0 | - | 5 | 191 |
| 34 | Rashid Khan | SRH | AFG | 15 | 15 | 1 | 1 | 150 | 6 | 5.8 | 7 | 187 |
| 35 | Chris Morris | DC | SA | 21 | 17 | 1 | 1 | 77.8 | 11 | 8.1 | 6 | 187 |
| 36 | Rohit Sharma | MI | IND | 165 | 48 | 22 | 3 | 128.9 | 0 | - | 6 | 183 |
| 37 | Harbhajan Singh | CSK | IND | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 7 | 5.1 | 4 | 182 |
| 38 | Ajinkya Rahane | RR | IND | 175 | 70 | 22 | 4 | 134.6 | 0 | - | 7 | 181 |
| 39 | Krunal Pandya | MI | IND | 92 | 42 | 12 | 2 | 133.3 | 5 | 8.2 | 7 | 180 |
| 40 | SuryakumarYadav | MI | IND | 154 | 59 | 19 | 3 | 137.5 | 0 | - | 7 | 175 |
| 41 | Sarfaraz Khan | KXI | IND | 180 | 67 | 19 | 4 | 125.9 | 0 | 18 | 8 | 166 |
| 42 | Sandeep Sharma | SRH | IND | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 200 | 8 | 7.3 | 7 | 164 |
| 43 | Jasprit Bumrah | MI | IND | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 161 |
| 44 | David Miller | KXI | SA | 131 | 59 | 13 | 5 | 136.5 | 0 | - | 6 | 158 |
| 45 | Vijay Shankar | SRH | IND | 132 | 40 | 7 | 6 | 129.4 | 0 | 8.6 | 7 | 153 |
| 46 | Moeen Ali | RCB | ENG | 74 | 32 | 4 | 6 | 142.3 | 3 | 6.8 | 7 | 151 |
| 47 | Mohd Shami | KXI | IND | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 8.8 | 8 | 150 |
| 48 | Steven Smith | RR | AUS | 186 | 73 | 14 | 3 | 107.5 | 0 | - | 7 | 145 |
| 49 | Colin Ingram | DC | SA | 138 | 47 | 15 | 4 | 131.4 | 0 | - | 7 | 140 |
| 50 | Dwayne Bravo | CSK | WI | 39 | 27 | 4 | 2 | 139.3 | 7 | 9.4 | 4 | 140 |
