PAISA VASOOL IPL

After IPL2's first 10 matches, the numbers still have an unsettled look about them. Blame it on the rain, and IPL2's awkward schedule: Mumbai Indians [Images] have completed only one match, while Bangalore Royal Challengers [Images] are getting ready to play their fourth match!

Rookie Indians still offer the best value

As with IPL1, young Indian cricketers -- offered money ranging between $30,000 - $50,000; it is very hard to find exact prices paid to non-auctioned players -- still provide the best value for money (PVI).

Player	Team	From	Runs	Strike Rate	W	Eco	M	MVPI	Money offered ($)	PVI	Age
Pragyan Ojha [Images]	DC	IND	0	--	3	5.1	2	64	30000	67	22
L Balaji [Images]	CSK	IND	0	--	5	5.8	2	90	30000	67	27
Pradeep Sangwan	DD	IND	0	--	3	7.8	2	51	30000	85	18
Kamran Khan	RR	IND	3	60.0	3	5.6	2	70	30000	86	18
Karan Goel [Images]	KXI	IND	38	135.7	0	--	2	41	30000	105	22
M Gony	CSK	IND	6	300.0	4	9.2	3	55	30000	117	25
A S Raut	RR	IND	21	161.5	0	--	1	30	30000	187
Yashpal Singh	KKR	IND	20	111.1	0	--	2	30	30000	203
Harmeet Singh	DC	IND	0	--	1	8.4	2	20	30000	220	21
Anureet Singh	KKR	IND	0	--	2	8.8	1	25	30000	223	21
Mahesh Rawat	RR	IND	4	57.1	0	--	2	27	30000	224	24
D Mascarenhas [Images]	RR	ENG	27	93.1	4	6.1	2	89	100000	225	31
Ashok Dinda [Images]	KKR	IND	2	100.0	2	8.3	2	26	30000	231	25
Ravindra Jadeja [Images]	RR	IND	33	91.7	0	7.0	2	26	30000	235	20
Abhishek Nayar [Images]	MI	IND	35	250.0	0	--	1	53	100000	245	25
Scott Styris	DC	NZ	14	175.0	5	8.0	2	89	175000	281	33
AB de Villiers [Images]	DD	SA	105	194.4	0	--	2	151	300000	285	25
Shikhar Dhawan [Images]	MI	IND	22	104.8	0	--	1	18	40000	290	23
D Ravi Teja [Images]	DC	IND	8	160.0	0	--	2	14	30000	312	21
Laxmi Shukla [Images]	KKR	IND	21	110.5	0	11.0	3	19	30000	343	28
M Hayden	CSK	AUS	166	171.1	0	--	3	223	375000	361	37
Ajantha Mendis [Images]	KKR	SL	0	--	2	4.8	1	41	100000	453	24
Tillakaratne Dilshan [Images]	DD	SL	50	185.2	0	--	2	74	250000	481	32
Jesse Ryder [Images]	BRC	NZ	0	0.0	3	6.1	2	55	160000	584	24
Praveen Kumar	BRC	IND	22	115.8	5	7.4	3	101	300000	638	22
Fidel Edwards [Images]	DC	WI	3	150.0	1	5.6	2	34	150000	640	27
Vinay Kumar	BRC	IND	13	162.5	0	9.3	2	9	30000	667	25
Dwayne Bravo [Images]	MI	WI	5	125.0	1	6.8	1	27	150000	714	25
Venugopal Rao	DC	IND	9	69.2	0	--	2	6	30000	745	27
Lasith Malinga [Images]	MI	SL	0	--	3	3.8	1	60	350000	750	25
Virat Kohli [Images]	BRC	IND	64	120.8	0	9.0	3	84	300000	768	20
Yo Mahesh	DD	IND	0	--	1	12.5	1	5	30000	771	21
Adam Gilchrist [Images]	DC	AUS	84	150.0	0	--	2	126	700000	797	37
Dirk Nannes	DD	AUS	0	--	0	8.0	2	12	70000	833	33

The real surprise in this list is to find a handful of big names like Scott Styris, A B de Villiers, Matthew Hayden [Images], Dwayne Bravo, Lasith Malinga and Adam Gilchrist � earning 5 to 20 times more than young Indian players and still having a PVI below 1000. This constitutes exceptional performance.

'Expensive' players seldom have a PVI below 2000

Expensive players -- with prices over $700,000 -- usually find it very difficult to have a paisa vasool index (PVI) above 2000. The table below lists the PVI of the 30 most expensive players.

Player	Team	From	Runs	Strike Rate	W	Eco	M	MVPI	Money offered ($)	PVI	Age
Pragyan Ojha	DC	IND	0	--	3	5.1	2	64	30000	67	22
L Balaji	CSK	IND	0	--	5	5.8	2	90	30000	67	27
Pradeep Sangwan	DD	IND	0	--	3	7.8	2	51	30000	85	18
Kamran Khan	RR	IND	3	60.0	3	5.6	2	70	30000	86	18
Karan Goel	KXI	IND	38	135.7	0	--	2	41	30000	105	22
M Gony	CSK	IND	6	300.0	4	9.2	3	55	30000	117	25
A S Raut	RR	IND	21	161.5	0	--	1	30	30000	187
Yashpal Singh	KKR	IND	20	111.1	0	--	2	30	30000	203
Harmeet Singh	DC	IND	0	--	1	8.4	2	20	30000	220	21
Anureet Singh	KKR	IND	0	--	2	8.8	1	25	30000	223	21
Mahesh Rawat	RR	IND	4	57.1	0	--	2	27	30000	224	24
D Mascarenhas	RR	ENG	27	93.1	4	6.1	2	89	100000	225	31
Ashok Dinda	KKR	IND	2	100.0	2	8.3	2	26	30000	231	25
Ravindra Jadeja	RR	IND	33	91.7	0	7.0	2	26	30000	235	20
Abhishek Nayar	MI	IND	35	250.0	0	--	1	53	100000	245	25
Scott Styris	DC	NZ	14	175.0	5	8.0	2	89	175000	281	33
AB de Villiers	DD	SA	105	194.4	0	--	2	151	300000	285	25
Shikhar Dhawan	MI	IND	22	104.8	0	--	1	18	40000	290	23
D Ravi Teja	DC	IND	8	160.0	0	--	2	14	30000	312	21
Laxmi Shukla	KKR	IND	21	110.5	0	11.0	3	19	30000	343	28
M Hayden	CSK	AUS	166	171.1	0	--	3	223	375000	361	37
Ajantha Mendis	KKR	SL	0	--	2	4.8	1	41	100000	453	24
Tillakaratne Dilshan	DD	SL	50	185.2	0	--	2	74	250000	481	32
Jesse Ryder	BRC	NZ	0	0.0	3	6.1	2	55	160000	584	24
Praveen Kumar	BRC	IND	22	115.8	5	7.4	3	101	300000	638	22
Fidel Edwards	DC	WI	3	150.0	1	5.6	2	34	150000	640	27
Vinay Kumar	BRC	IND	13	162.5	0	9.3	2	9	30000	667	25
Dwayne Bravo	MI	WI	5	125.0	1	6.8	1	27	150000	714	25
Venugopal Rao	DC	IND	9	69.2	0	--	2	6	30000	745	27
Lasith Malinga	MI	SL	0	--	3	3.8	1	60	350000	750	25
Virat Kohli	BRC	IND	64	120.8	0	9.0	3	84	300000	768	20
Yo Mahesh	DD	IND	0	--	1	12.5	1	5	30000	771	21
Adam Gilchrist	DC	AUS	84	150.0	0	--	2	126	700000	797	37
Dirk Nannes	DD	AUS	0	--	0	8.0	2	12	70000	833	33

Only 8 of these 30 players currently have a PVI below 2000: Rahul Dravid [Images], R P Singh, Virender Sehwag [Images], Chris Gayle [Images], Rohit Sharma [Images], Adam Gilchrist, Suresh Raina [Images] and Daniel Vettori [Images]. These players offers exceptional value for money.

On the other hand, Jean-Paul Duminy [Images], Jacques Kallis [Images], Gautam Gambhir [Images], Manoj Tewari and Tyron Henderson -- with a PVI of over 5000 -- have a bit of work to do to justify their high price tag.

Quality matters

After playing his first IPL2 match, Rahul Dravid said that one needs to play real cricketing shots to succeed this time: You can't just "tee off" like you do on bland Indian pitches.

What Dravid said about batting is equally true about bowling. The most valuable players in IPL2 so far have, in many cases, also been among the most gifted.

The table below lists the 20 most valuable players after the first 10 IPL2 matches. This is based on Rediff.com's most valuable player index (MVPI).

Player	Team	From	Runs	Strike Rate	W	Eco	M	MVPI	PVI	Age
M Hayden	CSK	AUS	166	171.1	0	--	3	223	361	37
Rahul Dravid	BRC	IND	134	144.1	0	--	3	171	1299	36
AB de Villiers	DD	SA	105	194.4	0	--	2	151	285	25
Adam Gilchrist	DC	AUS	84	150.0	0	--	2	126	797	37
Chris Gayle	KKR	WI	95	133.8	0	8.0	3	110	1555	29
RP Singh	DC	IND	0	--	6	5.1	2	109	1152	23
Praveen Kumar	BRC	IND	22	115.8	5	7.4	3	101	638	22
Daniel Vettori	DD	NZ	0	--	5	6.3	2	99	906	30
Anil Kumble [Images]	BRC	IND	2	33.3	5	6.3	3	93	1149	38
Rohit Sharma	DC	IND	52	173.3	0	--	2	90	1197	22
L Balaji	CSK	IND	0	--	5	5.8	2	90	67	27
Scott Styris	DC	NZ	14	175.0	5	8.0	2	89	281	33
D Mascarenhas	RR	ENG	27	93.1	4	6.1	2	89	225	31
K Pietersen	BRC	ENG	43	93.5	3	6.4	3	85	3908	28
Suresh Raina	CSK	IND	77	118.5	0	--	3	84	1653	22
Virat Kohli	BRC	IND	64	120.8	0	9.0	3	84	768	20
A Flintoff	CSK	ENG	62	117.0	2	9.5	3	81	4088	31
Shane Warne [Images]	RR	AUS	5	45.5	4	5.4	2	77	1165	39
Sourav Ganguly [Images]	KKR	IND	47	111.9	2	6.9	3	77	3060	36

This list is slightly misleading because only players who have played more matches (M) tend to show up. But at least 10 of the 20 players here are cricketing greats of their generation. This list would almost certainly have included Sachin Tendulkar [Images] and Sanath Jayasuriya [Images] too if Mumbai Indians had played their second match.

Almost half the top players are aged over 30 � and therefore started their cricketing career well before the appearance of Twenty20 [Images] cricket. But they are still on the list because of their impeccable pedigree.

Strike rates tell a story

In Twenty20 cricket, par strike rates tend to be well over 120 runs in 100 balls, and the best batsmen often have strike rates of over 150. The table below lists IPL2 players with the best strike rates. Only players who have aggregated more than 35 runs are included in the list.

Player	Team	From	Runs	Strike Rate	M	MVPI	Money offered ($)	PVI	Age
Abhishek Nayar	MI	IND	35	250.0	1	53	100000	245	25
AB de Villiers	DD	SA	105	194.4	2	151	300000	285	25
Tillakaratne Dilshan	DD	SL	50	185.2	2	74	250000	481	32
Virender Sehwag	DD	IND	44	176.0	2	64	833750	1854	30
Rohit Sharma	DC	IND	52	173.3	2	90	750000	1197	22
M Hayden	CSK	AUS	166	171.1	3	223	375000	361	37
Irfan Pathan [Images]	KXI	IND	38	158.3	2	40	925000	3304	24
Yusuf Pathan [Images]	RR	IND	53	151.4	2	63	475000	1502	26
Adam Gilchrist	DC	AUS	84	150.0	2	126	700000	797	37
M Jayawardene	KXI	SL	37	148.0	2	43	475000	1587	31
Rahul Dravid	BRC	IND	134	144.1	3	171	1035000	1299	36
Yuvraj Singh [Images]	KXI	IND	54	138.5	2	59	1063750	2565	27
Karan Goel	KXI	IND	38	135.7	2	41	30000	105	22
Chris Gayle	KKR	WI	95	133.8	3	110	800000	1555	29
MS Dhoni [Images]	CSK	IND	57	121.3	3	75	1500000	4300	27
Virat Kohli	BRC	IND	64	120.8	3	84	300000	768	20
Sachin Tendulkar	MI	IND	59	120.4	1	61	1121250	2373	36
Ravi Bopara [Images]	KXI	ENG	37	119.4	2	37	450000	1749	24
Suresh Raina	CSK	IND	77	118.5	3	84	650000	1653	22
Jacques Kallis	BRC	SA	39	118.2	2	20	900000	9114	33
A Flintoff	CSK	ENG	62	117.0	3	81	1550000	4088	31
Sourav Ganguly	KKR	IND	47	111.9	3	77	1092500	3060	36

The strike rate table points to something rather interesting: batsmen who score rapidly usually offer significantly better value for money. Among batsmen with a strike rate exceeding 130, only Irfan Pathan and Yuvraj Singh have a PVI above 2000. So, other things being equal, the franchise owner should pick the big hitter.

In fact he can do even better. A detailed regression model fitted last year by clever young students from Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, indicated that a batsman with the highest product of (strike rate * average score) offered the best value for money.