How do you determine the value of a player?

Chappell just can't grasp the true meaning of value. He's obsessed with slogging, measured by mighty sixes and huge strike rates. No wonder he's barking up the wrong tree. Who's winning matches for Mumbai Indians? Obviously it's total team effort: batting, bowling, fielding, all in unison. Meaning total team value is bigger than the sum of its parts. That's synergy. Among MI batsmen, builders contribute the most: Tendulkar, Rayudu, Sharma. Even Symonds. He and Sharma did most in a consolidating-building mode. Pollard is a slogger: flashy but can't be counted on as a consistent, reliable player like a builder. Tendulkar is a reliable constant: last year he was the top IPL scorer, but only had 3 sixes, in leading MI to the final. More important, how do you measure intangibles: character, self-belief, passion, work-ethic, mentoring, leadership, staying power? How do you assess Sachin's true worth? You cannot. He's Invaluable! Priceless! A National Treasure! Ian just doesn't get it.

(Contd) Another sad MLB reality: Bankruptcy is as American as baseball and Chevrolet. Two MLB clubs - Chicago Cubs & Texas Rangers - went bankrupt recently. And last week the MLB Commissioner seized control of the storied LA Dodgers club from its feuding owners. The big problem: Mismanagement and bad finances. The IPL? So far so good. Ian, you missed it: the frugal Rajasthan Royals won the inaugural IPL trophy with the least costly player payroll! Maybe the MLB can learn a thing or two from the IPL: Its novel auction, which limits contracts to 3 years, with salary caps. As any numbers geek knows, MLB clubs have big busts too: Those deadly long-term contracts with dud stars. Yes, statisticians have a role to play, but only in the support staff. Decision-making should best be left to selectors, captains & coaches, with owners having a say. The IPL model is working fine; it weathered a major crisis last year. The future? Like any business, market forces will determine IPL's value.

It's always that way with wages. People who do hard physical labor and put in 90 hrs a week are the least paid. People who sit at the top of the tree and never see light of day from within their air-conditioned offices/cars/homes are the highest paid. It's similar, that people who spend years in the domestic/test circuit go unnoticed while a couple of hours and six or two here and there in the IPL reap lots of rewards! MI is so rich that they can afford million dollar deals for their backups - as Ian pointed out, clearly Symonds and Pollard are there to provide the big hits, should Tendulkar fail at the top and it's for that that MI paid close to a million dollars for both Symmo and Polly.

Good article but I would argue that it fails to comprehend two things: 1) Value for money vs star power - IPL caters to the Indian market, where star power is the way to go, no matter how good/bad your product. In an over populated country, narcissism is bound to brew & celebrity endorsement is the strategy to a proitable campaign. Yes Mumbai have both Pollard and Symonds, neither of whom have contributed too much except may be Symonds in the last match. But it does'nt matter. The crowd pays to see them in the same outfit as Bhajji, Malinga and Tendulkar. All of Mumbai's home games have been sold out. Why? Due to the insane levels of star power and resultant wins. And who makes the money? The businessmen. 2) For a true businessman a sporting win far undervalues profits. Iconic players mean more sponsorship, means higher capacity stadiums means greater profits overall. So unfortunately or fortunately, it's not all about winning, it's about the money. And in India, celebrities = money.

Interesting article. But I hope crickets boards also do a similar value analysis. IPL is like a war, but in a war-movie while international cricket is real war.

yeah absolutely true. symo and polly should have to up to the order.sachin have to step down atleast now to giving the stoke makers up to the order. this is better for the team otherwise nothing gonna happen for mumbai indians for sure

I think mumbai's strategy on having both Symonds and Pollard is "better to have them in our team even if they don;t get to bat, rather than have them against us and score big"

You are right Ian soon they will figure out who is worth what.

The indian players were the most sought after players in the auction because they are the only players who will play the full tournament every time. But if the leagues are played on the guidelines of IPL it would be good. the league cricket should build on it and should follow the football leagues' rules. this would make cricket globally hit. I think the value of the player depends on his caliber. Andrew Symonds price of $850,000 is not more given his caliber. but Michael Hussey, Rahul Dravid and some other players were paid relatively less price. this needs to be sorted out. HOPE THAT THE CRICKET BECOMES A GLOBAL SPORT........................

Nice article. I completly agree. It's lucky that Mumbai has tendulkar.