Who are the fast bowlers offering the best value?

• Paisa Vasool Index after Match 26

There is such a great variation in the DLF IPL player costs that established players, who came in through the auctions, have a significantly greater paisa vasool index (PVI) than the players who were drafted in later (at typically one-tenth the average cost of an auctioned player).

We will, therefore, break up this analysis into two parts. We first look at the 'low cost' fast or medium fast bowlers who provide the best value for money, and then repeat the analysis for the 'auctioned' fast or medium fast bowlers.

This is just to make things easier for the reader; but we mustn't forget that all these bowlers are competing on the same cricket field!

Recall once again that the most valuable player index (MVPI) is calculated by considering the runs scored, strike rate, wickets taken, economy rate, catches taken and run outs effected (so the higher the MVPI, the better the player is performing), while the PVI equals: amount paid so far to the player /MVPI of the player (so the lower the PVI, the better the value offered by the player).

Table 1: The best ('low cost'*) IPL fast bowler buys after 26 matches (US dollars paid so far for contributing each 'run')

*Some player prices are unconfirmed, and based on the available information

This analysis suggests that bowlers like Manpreet Gony (CSK), Rajat Bhatia (DD), Yo Mahesh (DD), Ashok Dinda (KKR) and Dhawal Kulkarni (MI) are holding their own against some of the best bowling names in international cricket.

Table 2: The best ('auctioned') IPL fast bowler buys after 26 matches (US dollars paid so far for contributing each 'run')

India's most highly-rated bowlers like Ishant Sharma (KKR), S Sreesanth (KXI) and even R P Singh (DC) have rather high PVI values, leading one to believe that they are probably over-priced. Zaheer Khan (RCB), who arguably is the best bowler in this set, seems to have been priced just right. But we are only at the half-way mark and numbers will surely change.

The best 'steals' in this segment are Shane Watson (RR; even just for his bowling skills!), Sohail Tanvir (RR), Umar Gul (KKR), Ajit Agarkar (KRR), and that evergreen warrior Glenn McGrath (DD).

The 25 most valuable players in the DLF IPL after 26 matches are listed below. Rohit Sharma continues his impressive stride. Adam Gilchrist has gained points after his hurricane 54 in just 36 balls last night.

Table 3: The 25 most valuable players as on 7 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.