Wharton Sports Analytics Journal

FALL 2024

Beyond the Boundary: Revolutionizing the IPL MVP Index

AUTHORS

Shreyas Rajaram, The Dalton School
Sehaj Doshi, Awty International School
Aarush Bahel, Haberdashers’ Boys’ School
Benjamin Pearlberg, The Pennington School
Neil Jaiswal, Bridgewater-Raritan Regional High School

ABSTRACT

Since its inception in 2008, the Indian Premier League (IPL) has attracted many of the world’s most skilled cricket players, offering a highly competitive arena for them to showcase their talents. Each season, the IPL awards the Most Valuable Player (MVP) title to the player who achieves the highest rating on the league’s MVP metric. Ideally, this award recognizes the top performer of the season, with high rankings indicating outstanding achievement among elite players. However, the calculation used by the IPL to assess player performance lack consistency, are limited in scope, and rely on arbitrary criteria. This paper employs a multivariate regression model to develop a more robust formula, assigning mathematically optimized weights to devised metrics that better capture player contributions. With an R² value of 0.80—compared to the existing system’s 0.66—this new formula provides a more accurate and comprehensive evaluation of player performance.

About the Wharton Sports Analytics Journal

ISSN 3070-4065 (Online)

The Journal is published by the Wharton Sports Analytics and Business Initiative and features original student research at the intersection of sports, business, and analytics. Explore the Journal.

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