The IPL has never been as kind to top order batters or as cruel to bowlers!Purnendu Maji and Srinivas Bhogle present Rediff's Most Valuable Player Index of IPL 2026 after Game 38.

IMAGE: Abhishek Sharma -- fearless at the top, destructive when it matters. Photograph: BCCI

Abhishek Sharma (MVPI of 500) has overtaken Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (488) to top the MVPI table after week 4 of the 2026 IPL. The battle at the top between these two left-handed openers could well become the highlight of this year's IPL.

With 200 emerging as the new par score, at least in the first half of the IPL, the top 15 places of the MVPI table have all been occupied by batters (look at the table below).

9 of the top 15 are opening batters, 3/15 bat at No 3, and 3/15 bat at No. 4. The IPL has never been as kind to top order batters or as cruel to bowlers!

Even all-rounders, who can gain MVPI points in two ways, have been blown away. Only Jamie Overton (#18, MVPI of 297), Nitish Kumar Reddy (#19, 296) and Ravindra Jadeja (#25, 263) make it to the top 25.

IMAGE: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi bats during an IPL 2026 game. Photograph: BCCI

Recall that MVPI rewards batters who score a lot of runs very quickly, bowlers take a lot of wickets with a good economy rate, and players who participate in the most run out dismissals or take the most catches.

The PVI (last column in the table) identifies players in the top 50 that offer the best value for every US dollar they receive. Currently the players offering the best return on investment are: Sooryavanshi ($139 for every run equivalent contributed), Devdutt Padikkal ($372), Eshan Malinga ($270), Prince Yadav ($68), the injured Ayush Mhatre ($79), Sameer Rizvi ($230), Sarfaraz Khan ($216) and Harsh Dubey ($102).

Top 50 Performing Players So Far In IPL 2026 (after Match 38 ending 26.4.26)