Harbhajan Singh is Most Valuable Player

Harbhajan Singh [ Images ] was always a valuable ODI player for India [ Images ], but this is the first time he has become India's most valuable player (MVP).

The big difference now is that Harbhajan's batting is improving: he's scoring runs now, and at a fast clip.

A less charitable observation could be that Harbhajan is now getting more opportunities to bat because India's top order isn't firing well enough.

Sachin Tendulkar [ Images ] is climbing his way to the top after an indifferent start, and Mahendra Singh Dhoni [ Images ] continues to bat most impressively even though his strike rate has now dropped to just 75.

Recall that the Most Valuable Player Index (MVPI) collapses a player's all-round on-field performance into a single 'run' equivalent.

Table: The most valuable Indian players in the 2009-10 ODI season (16 matches so far)

Runs (scored) | Sixes | Fours | Strike rate | Bat-pts: Batting points | W: Wickets taken | Eco: Economy rate | Bowl-pts: Bowling points | Field-pts: fielding points | M: Matches played | MVPI: Most valuable player index = sum of batting, bowling and fielding points | *Run outs are counted as 1 (wicket) for a direct hit, and 0.5 (wicket) if the fielder is an equal participant in a run out dismissal