IPL Paisa Vasool Index: The rich and the successful

The Economic Times recently calculated the moolah-run rate (MRR) for batsmen and the moolah-scalp rate (MSR) for bowlers playing in the DLF IPL.

So if Ricky Ponting's pay cheque is $114286 (4/14 of $400,000) and he scores 39 runs, his MRR is 114286/39 = $2930.

Likewise, if Brett Lee's pay cheque is $257143 (4/14 of $900,000) and he bags 4 wickets, his MSR is 257143/4 = $64286 (although ET considered only bowlers with 5 or more wickets in their analysis).

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While these numbers are indicative of the state of things, they really do not tell the complete story. It would, for example, be hard to determine Irfan Pathan's total contribution based on his MRR and MSR. Again, these indices don't consider a batsman's strike rate, the bowler's economy rate and a player's fielding skills.

If franchise owners like Mukesh Ambani, Vijay Mallya or Shahrukh Khan want real numbers to tell them which of their players have really been paisa vasool (good value for money) then they will need a different sort of index.

The most valuable player (MVP) index, which has regularly appeared on Rediff's cricket pages, can easily be converted into a very reasonable paisa vasool index ("PVI"?).

The chief value of the MVP is that it factors in a lot of performance indicators (runs scored, strike rate, wickets taken, economy rate, fielding prowess) into a single index. Better still, the MVP value can be looked upon as a simple "run equivalent". If Shane Watson has a MVP of 292, it means that his combined effort as a batsman, bowler and fielder is equivalent to having scored 292 runs.

To calculate the PVI, we simply divide the player's current pay cheque by his current MVP value. For example, as on 2 May 2008, Mahela Jayawardene, bought by Kings XI Punjab for $475,000, had a PVI of 1844 because, by being available for 5 matches (although he actually played only 4), he had, as on that date, earned $169643 (5/14 of 475,000) and contributed an equivalent of 92 runs. So his PVI was 169643/92 = 1844.

As on 2 May, Rahul Dravid had proved to be over three times more expensive with a PVI of 6027.

Dwayne Bravo, on the other hand, has turned out to be a wonderful buy for Mumbai Indians with a PVI of just 270.

The PVI varies widely, and the best value is offered by young Indian players bought really cheap (the exact money offered is not known, but it is presumed that these players have been bought for around $30,000).  Shikhar Dhawan (DD), Ravindra Jadeja (RR), Abhishek Nayar (MI), L R Shukla (KKR) and Ashok Dinda (KKR) all have a PVI of below 100.

Among the foreign players, the best buys so far have been Shane Watson (RR, PVI =152), Ross Taylor (RCB, 188) besides of course Dwayne Bravo.

Michael Hussey and Matthew Hayden too proved to be very good buys with PVIs respectively of 475 and 527 – truly wonderful when you factor in their crowd-pulling ability.

We must stress that the PVI merely quantifies contributions made on the cricket field. As on 2 May, players like Rahul Dravid (RCB, 6027), Sourav Ganguly (KKR, 4384), Jacques Kallis (RCB, 2967) and Ricky Ponting (KKR, 7453) appear to be unduly expensive. But the PVI cannot measure the phenomenal popularity of these immensely successful players.

Note too that the PVI of a player rises (perhaps unfairly) when he is on the "bench", because although he is getting paid, he is not being offered the opportunity to contribute. Daniel Vettori (DD, 4252), Ramnaresh Sarwan (KXI, 5022), Dilhara Fernando (MI, 7653) and Shivnarine Chanderpaul (RCB, 7653) have all been forced on the bench because of the only-4-foreign-players rule.

Finally, we must mention that our calculation has to ignore players like Chris Gayle and Kyle Mills who would have to be paid their pro-rata amounts although they did not play a single match. Kyle Mills is already being called the "world's most expensive nets bowler"!

Table 1 gives the PVI of DLF IPL players as on 2 May 2008.

DD: Delhi Daredevils | CSK: Chennai Super Kings | DC: Deccan Chargers | RCB: Royal Challengers Bangalore | RR: Rajasthan Royals | KKR: Kolkata Knight Riders | KXI: Kings XI Punjab | MI: Mumbai Indians

M: Matches played | MVPI: Most valuable player index | Money offered; some estimates may be incorrect | MA: Matches available | MF: Fraction of money earned so far | PVI: Paisa vasool index; dollars paid for every run equivalent scored

The Twenty20 game seems to have got faster. While the average score in last year's ICC World Cup in 20 overs was 160, it's now closer to 170 in 20 overs in the DLF IPL.

So every batsman is now expected to score 8.5 runs in 6 balls. He gets bonus points if he scores at a faster rate, and loses points if he can't sustain this rate. The batting points equal the number of runs scored plus or minus the departure from the expected scoring rate.

A bowler is now expected to concede 34 runs in his 4 overs, and gets bonus or penalty points if he concedes less or more. Every wicket is equal to 17 points ("runs").

A catch or a stumping fetches 4 points to the fielder or wicket-keeper. A direct run out gives the fielder 17 points. If the run out dismissal involves two or more players, the 17 points are suitably shared.

Table 2: IPL's most valuable players (19 matches so far; as on noon of 2 May 2008)

Runs (scored) | Balls (taken) | Bat-pts: Batting points | | Rc: Runs conceded | Bb: Balls bowled | W: Wickets taken | Bowl-pts: Bowling points | Ct/St: Catches taken / Stumpings | Run outs (participated) | Field-pts: fielding points | M: Matches played | Total (points)  = sum of batting, bowling and fielding points | *Run outs are counted as 1 (wicket) for a direct hit, and 0.5 (wicket) if the fielder is an equal participant in a run out dismissal

Srinivas Bhogle, Purnendu Maji and Arthur DSilva work for Cranes Software International Limited, Bangalore.