Smart Stats - Gill, Shami lead ESPNcricinfo's Impact Ratings for IPL

Shubman Gill is the top-rated player currently in the IPL, according to ESPNcricinfo's Impact Ratings. Gill also tops the batting charts, while Mohammed Shami takes first place among bowlers.

The ratings are based on ESPNcricinfo's Smart Stats, which gives rating points to each batting and bowling performance by a player in each game. The rating points factor in not just the runs scored, strike rate, wickets taken, and economy rate, but also the context of those performances. A 40-ball 75 will fetch more points in a low-scoring game where the other batters have struggled, compared to a high-scoring game where the other batters have also flourished. The same applies to bowlers.

Similarly, a four-wicket haul will get more impact points when the victims are four high-quality batters in a high-pressure situation, compared to four lower-order wickets when the match is already decided. The player ratings are an aggregation of these impact points for the last two years, with a decay factor applied to ensure that recent performances carry more weight than earlier ones. The overall ratings take into account both batting and bowling impact points, while there are also separate ratings for each of those skillsets.

Gill's top position is a reward for a fantastic 2023 season, where he scored 890 runs - including three hundreds - at a strike rate of 157.80. Almost 58% of those runs came in the last seven innings of the season, which included the three hundreds and an unbeaten 94. In those seven innings, he scored 515 runs at a strike rate of 178.81.

In second place in the overall list, as well as the batting rankings, is Faf du Plessis, who also had an outstanding 2023 season, scoring 730 runs from 14 innings at a strike rate of 153.68. Rashid Khan's third place in the overall list is primarily due to his bowling - he was the second-highest wicket-taker with 27 last season - but also because of his contributions with the bat; he scored 130 runs at a strike rate of 216.66, including an unbeaten 79 off 32 versus Mumbai Indians.

In the batters' list, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Suryakumar Yadav and CSK's new captain, Ruturaj Gaikwad, round off the top five. Glenn Maxwell and David Warner ensure Australian representation in the top 10, while Virat Kohli makes the cut too, at No. 9.

Among the bowlers, Shami is the leader, thanks to a rich haul of 28 wickets at an economy rate of 8.03 last season. Twenty-one of his 28 wickets were of batters in the top five, which further enhanced his rating points. Mohammed Siraj had a poor IPL in 2022, but he roared back to form last year, taking 19 wickets at an economy rate of just 7.50. Siraj was outstanding in the powerplays, taking ten wickets at an economy rate of 5.93. Among the 57 bowlers who bowled at least five powerplay overs, he was the only one to concede less than a run a ball.

Spinners occupy the next four spots, and overall they fill six of the top 10 slots. Rashid is at No. 3, while Yuzvendra Chahal's fourth place is also a nod to his excellence in the death overs - nine wickets at an excellent economy rate of 7.75. R Ashwin just missed out on the top 10, and is in 11th position with a rating of 338.5 points.