IPL 2018: Ambati Rayudu More Valuable Than MS Dhoni - Study

With the eleventh edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) done and dusted, a detailed research study has recently revealed that Chennai Super Kings’ (CSK) batsman Ambati Rayudu proved to be more valuable than his skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni in this cash-rich league.

Meanwhile, the 11th edition produced many exciting moments and close games. With all franchises spending a big amount on top-notch players, the post-assessment was all about who provided bang for the buck.

A study by Hansa Research Group calculates the impact based on certain parameters. It assigns them points and calculates how expensive a player was for each point.

However, the top performances by a player don’t automatically make him the best buy as the team might have paid a huge sum.

Thus, the topper of the chart is the one who came cheap but delivered in the tournament.

For instance, Virat Kohli did a fair job despite Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) failing to reach the playoffs.

Kohli amassed 530 runs at 48.18 at a strike rate of 139.10 with four half-centuries. But RCB had splurged INR 17 crore for him, which meant Kohli, despite logging 2,225 points, cost INR 76,404 per point for his team.

Similarly, Dhoni guided Chennai to their third IPL title. Dhoni’s finishing with the bat, captaincy and keeping all stood out in a recently-concluded season of the Twenty20 league.

But the cold statistics put opener Rayudu (2,734 points) way ahead of Dhoni in the list as the opener. Rayudu, who was a picture of consistency, was bought for INR 2.2 crore while Dhoni (2,450 points) cost the franchise INR 15 crore.

As a result, Ambati Rayudu finds himself in 16th in the list in terms of players providing the best returns. However, Dhoni is on 113 and Kohli only 121 among 136 players who featured in at least one game.

The high returns for low investment model thus put Delhi Daredevils’ (DD) pacer Harshal Patel at the top of the chart.

Daredevils roped him for INR two crore but collected 830 points, with each point coming at an investment of just INR 860.

Rajasthan Royals’ (RR) leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal, who bowled impressively and took 11 wickets in 11 games is next best at INR 1,151 per point (Rs 2 crore).

However, Jaydev Unadkat, who was the costliest seamer cost INR 1.05 lakh per each of his 1,088 points, according to the study.

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