IPL Most Valuable Player: How does it work, and why are none of the RCB players featured in the top 10?

Mint

2 days ago

The evaluation process deployed by the Indian Premier League to determine the Most Valuable Player award is a curious one. The Orange Cap and Purple Cap are determined in a straightforward manner. The player with the most runs gets the former, and the player with the most wickets gets the latter. Other awards, like most fours, most sixes, and super striker, follow similar objective parameters. Here is where the MVP gets into a tricky spot. It's definitely not a subjective award. The attempt to make it an objective award is where things get complex.
S.No Player Team Points 1 Sai Sudharsan Gujarat Titans 311.0 2 Suryakumar Yadav Mumbai Indians 300.0 3 Yashasvi Jaiswal Rajasthan Royals 273.0 4 Nicholas Pooran Lucknow Super Giants 272.5 5 Mitchell Marsh Lucknow Super Giants 272.0
The first thing one might notice is the absence of Prasidh Krishna, the purple cap holder, from the top five. So, where is Prasidh Krishna? He is occupying the 9th spot with 246 points.
The second question is an extension of the first. How many bowlers are in the top 20 list? Four.
Player Team Overall rank Points Sunil Narine Kolkata Knight Riders 6 270.5 Prasidh Krishna Gujarat Titans 9 246.0 Pat Cummins Sunrisers Hyderabad 13 226.0 Mohammed Siraj Gujarat Titans 18 219.5
Here comes the third and most important question. Where is Jasprit Bumrah? He is the 33rd name on the list. Yes, Jasprit Bumrah is the 33rd Most Valuable Player of the season. Bumrah missed four games at the start of the season, which puts him at a disadvantage over the others. Yet, he has taken 18 wickets from just 11 matches, which is 3 more than Mohammed Siraj and 2 more than Pat Cummins, the other names who are ahead of him. In an interesting and odd way, RCB's Josh Hazlewood occupies the 34th place.
Sunil Narine and Pat Cummins score points with the bat too. Bumrah has faced only one ball in the entire season. Is it Bumrah's fault that he does a better job than anyone else in the league with the ball, and yet, he is finding himself in 33rd place? Let's understand the scoring system to get a detailed idea.
Facet Metric Points Batting Fours 2.5 Sixes 3.5 Bowling Wickets 3.5 Dots 1.0 Fielding Catches 2.5 Run outs 1.0 Stumpings 2.5
Player 4s 6s Catches Total Sai Sudharsan (GT) 88 21 7 311.0 Suryakumar Yadav (MI) 65 35 6 300.0 Yashasvi Jaiswal (RR) 60 28 10 273.0 Nicholas Pooran (LSG) 45 40 8 272.5 Mitchell Marsh (LSG) 56 37 1 272.0
Sai Sudharsan: 88 fours (88*2.5 = 220 points) + 21 sixes (21*3.5 = 73.5 points) + 7 catches (7*2.5 = 17.5 points) = 311 points.
Sunil Narine occupies the 6th spot because of his genuine all-round skills. He opens the innings and bowls four overs.
12 wickets and 89 dots got him 131 points with the ball.
25 fours and 19 sixes got him 129 points with the bat.
3 catches and 3 run-outs got him 10.5 points.
Narine didn't have an extraordinary season by his own lofty standards. Yet, his contribution in two areas got him a high sixth-place finish with 270.5 points.
Let's explore the disparity in the points system.
Two bowlers have taken a five-wicket haul in IPL 2025
Mitchell Starc (DC) vs SRH - 5/35 with 12 dots
Hardik Pandya (MI) vs LSG - 5/36 with 10 dots
Starc got 29.5 points for his five wickets (17.5 points) and 12 dots (12 points)
Hardik got 27.5 points for his performance against LSG.
Mohammed Siraj's 17 dot balls and four wickets against SRH fetched him 31 points, the most points managed by a bowler in an inning.
35 batters have scored at least 5 sixes and 5 fours in an innings in IPL 2025.
Those 35 instances fetched them a minimum of 30 points (17.5 for 5 sixes, 12.5 for 5 fours). A batter hitting five sixes in an inning has a higher likelihood to happen than a bowler taking five wickets in an inning.
2. A batter has two higher-valued metrics to maximise their score (3.5 points for a six, 2.5 points for a four), whereas a bowler has one higher-valued metric (3.5 points for a wicket) and one lower-valued metric (1 point for a dot ball).
Metric Player Count Points Fours (2.5 points) Sai Sudharsan 88 220.0 Sixes (3.5 points) Nicholas Pooran 40 140.0 Dot balls (1 point) Mohammed Siraj 151 151.0 Wickets (3.5 points) Prasidh Krishna 25 87.5
Sai Sudharsan's points through the fours alone are higher than the total points collected by all specialist bowlers, except Prasidh Krishna.
Former Indian international cricketers Abhinav Mukund and Subramaniam Badrinath debated about the points system in the Tamil broadcast during the league game between Gujarat Titans and Chennai Super Kings in Ahmedabad. Yashasvi Jaiswal was leading the MVP charts at that point. They questioned the batter-friendly nature of the points system and also opined that Yashasvi wasn't their MVP.
CSK, DC and RCB have no entries in the top 10 list. Absence of RCB players demand scrutiny due to them being the first team to reach the final of IPL 2025. Virat Kohli at 12th position is the highest-ranked RCB player in the MVP list.
Metric Count Points Fours (2.5 points) 63 157.5 Sixes (3.5 points) 19 66.5 Catches (2.5 points) 3 7.5 Run outs (1 point) 3 3.0 Total 234.5
Krunal Pandya is the only genuine all-rounder in the RCB starting XI, and even he has batted only 6 times. Krunal has scored 105 runs this season, and 73 of those came in one game, against Delhi Capitals.
The Most Valuable Player award was won by a player from the title-winning team in three of the first five seasons. Sachin Tendulkar and Chris Gayle won the awards as runners-up in 2010 and 2011, respectively.
Season Player (team) Team's position 2008 Shane Watson (RR) Winners 2009 Adam Gilchrist (Deccan Chargers) Winners 2010 Sachin Tendulkar (MI) Runners-up 2011 Chris Gayle (RCB) Runners-up 2012 Sunil Narine (KKR) Winners
The next 15 seasons witnessed several oddities.
Season Player Team's position 2013 Shane Watson (RR) 3rd place 2014 Glenn Maxwell (PBKS) Runners-up 2015 Andre Russell (KKR) 5th place 2016 Virat Kohli (RCB) Runners-up 2017 Ben Stokes (RPSG) Runners-up 2018 Sunil Narine (KKR) 3rd place 2019 Andre Russell (KKR) 5th place 2020 Jofra Archer (RR) 8th place (last) 2021 Harshal Patel (RCB) 4th place 2022 Jos Buttler (RR) Runners-up 2023 Shubman Gill (GT) Runners-up 2024 Sunil Narine (KKR) Winners
Jofra Archer won the award in 2020 despite the Rajasthan Royals finishing last in the points table.
The points system overwhelmingly favours the batters. The likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Josh Hazlewood, and Prasidh Krishna should be given an equal chance to lay their hands on the prestigious award.
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