DATA STORY: In IPL 2018, newbies delivered a better 'return' on investment than star players

Indian Premier League came to a conclusion on Sunday when Chennai Super Kings won the trophy for the third time in 11 years. Australian Andrew Tye, who played for Kings XI Punjab, bagged the Purple Cap by picking most wickets in IPL 2018. Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Kane Williamson scored most numbers of runs in the tournament, claiming the Orange Cap.

From a financial perspective, the question that arises is which player provided the most 'returns' on investment? The IPLT20 website provides a list of most valuable players though it does not divulge what parameters were used.

The list seems to be led by ‘impact players’, which includes the likes of Sunil Narine, Shane Watson and Rashid Khan, who undeniably have been instrumental in the campaign of their respective teams. However, they certainly are not the best value for money players. To deduce whether a player is 'value for money', one has to analyse the player's contribution.

Calculating players’ contribution

In order to calculate the monetary value of the contribution of players in IPL 2018, their cumulative contribution was calculated.

Taking 10 random matches in IPL, which included some low scoring and high scoring ones as well as matches which were decided on the basis of D/L method, a run equivalent of a wicket was calculated. This involved adding total runs scored in the match and dividing that by the total number of wickets which fell in those 10 matches. The value for one wicket in the IPL 2018 was calculated equivalent to 34.29 runs.

Wickets taken by a player was multiplied by the run equivalent and the result was then added to the runs scored by the same player. This gave the total contribution of a particular player in the IPL.

For example, West Indian all-rounder Sunil Narine picked 17 wickets. His run equivalent for the wickets taken would be 582.93. Adding this to the runs he scored (357), his contribution in terms of runs was 939.93. Now dividing his contribution by the amount he was purchased for, his contribution per lakh rupees comes out to be 1.11 run equivalent.

For the sake of calculation, it does not take into account if a particular player actually played the match or was sitting in the dugout - as a franchise will have to pay the salary in any case. However, the injured players who pulled out of the tournament were not considered .

On the other hand, the fact that English players Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler, who were not able to play Rajasthan Royals' last fixture due to their national duties, was taken into account and their salary for 13 matches was used for the calculation.

The calculations, hence, throw some surprising results.

'Value for money' players

Going purely by the contribution in terms of runs or wickets by players who got a chance to play, leg-spinner Mayank Markande emerges as the best bet in IPL 2018. Playing for Mumbai Indians, Markande picked 15 wickets from 14 games. Interestingly, he was bought at his base price of mere Rs 20 lakh.

Rajasthan Royals' Shreyas Gopal emerged second best value for money player. Medium pacer Prasidh Krishna, Nepali spinner Sandeep Lamichhane and South African Lungi Ngidi complete the top five list.

Scoring runs are vital but the above graph outlines the importance of quality bowlers in T20 format.

Among the most expensive players, Manish Pandey (Rs 11 crore), Virat Kohli (Rs 17 crore), Jaydev Unadkat (Rs 11.5 crore) and Glenn Maxwell (Rs 9 crore) provided least 'returns on investments'. The biggest financial disappointments were the most expensive player auctioned this year - Ben Stokes (Rs 12.5 crore) and KXIP captain Ravichandran Ashwin (Rs 7.6 crore).

Special mentions

There were some outstanding players who neither feature in the most expensive players' list nor in the least expensive players' list. Nonetheless, they proved their worth for their respective franchises. They include Kane Williamson, Siddarth Kaul, Umesh Yadav, Shardul Thakur and Ambati Rayudu.