Yuvraj leads India's MVP race

Even though Yuvraj Singh [ Images ] didn't seem to be quite himself -- at least till that innings in the Compaq Cup tri-series final -- he is still India's [ Images ] most valuable ODI player in the ongoing 2009-10 season.

If Yuvraj doesn't bat well, he ends up bowling rather well. So this way or that he always brings great value.

Sachin Tendulkar [ Images ] has already climbed to the fourth place although he has played only three of India's seven matches this season.

Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni [ Images ] continues to perform impressively and Ashish Nehra [ Images ] has ensured that Zaheer Khan [ Images ] has not been missed. Virender Sehwag [ Images ], last season's most valuable player, however is being sorely missed.

Table 1: India's most valuable players in the 2009-10 ODI season (7 matches so far)

Player	Runs	Six	Four	Strike Rate	Bat Pts	W	Eco	Bowl Pts	Field Pts	M	MVPI
Yuvraj Singh	248	9	25	114.3	315.2	4	5.1	97.0	0	7	412
MS Dhoni	281	4	17	79.2	266.2	0	--	0.0	77	7	343
Harbhajan Singh [ Images ]	32	2	0	86.5	33.2	9	5.3	211.2	20	7	264
Sachin Tendulkar	211	1	21	95.5	237.8	0	--	0.0	0	3	238
Ashish Nehra	1	0	0	14.3	-3.8	10	5.5	226.8	8	7	231
Dinesh Karthik [ Images ]	138	2	13	86.8	143.5	0	--	0.0	0	6	144
Yusuf Pathan [ Images ]	42	2	2	76.4	38.2	6	7.1	95.0	0	7	133
Ishant Sharma [ Images ]	13	0	2	48.1	3.5	6	5.7	121.0	8	6	133
Suresh Raina [ Images ]	53	2	4	86.9	55.2	2	3.7	66.0	8	3	129
Rohit Sharma [ Images ]	15	0	0	65.2	10.8	3	3.8	86.0	20.5	4	117
RP Singh [ Images ]	42	1	3	42.0	0.7	4	5.8	73.0	29	7	103
Gautam Gambhir [ Images ]	57	1	2	105.6	69.0	0	--	0.0	16.5	4	86
Rahul Dravid [ Images ]	100	2	6	63.69	69.2	0	--	0.0	4	3	73
Ravindra Jadeja [ Images ]	7	0	1	53.8	3.2	0	5.1	-1.0	4	2	6
Virat Kohli [ Images ]	2	0	0	100.0	2.3	0	--	0.0	0	1	2
Abhishek Nayar [ Images ]	0	0	0	--	0.0	0	--	0.0	0	2	0
Praveen Kumar [ Images ]	1	0	0	20.0	-2.2	0	5.3	-2.0	0	1	-4

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.

The oldest player playing one-dayers still proved to be the most valuable player in the Compaq Cup tri-series. Sanath Jayasuriya [ Images ] scored enough runs at his usual frenetic pace and took a few wickets too at a decent economy rate. Of course, he had the advantage of playing at the R Premadasa, the stadium that he likes the most.

Angelo Mathews just managed to edge out Sachin Tendulkar who was the highest scorer. It is notable that, so late in his career, Tendulkar scored at a strike rate of 95. His career strike rate is about 85 and that is not going to change now after playing 400+ ODI matches.

New Zealand [ Images ] cricketers were very disappointing, with only Daniel Vettori [ Images ] and Shane Bond [ Images ] making it to the top dozen. And Brendon McCullum [ Images ] was surely not expected to be right at the bottom!

Table 2: The most valuable players in the Compaq Cup series (4 matches played)

Player	Team	Runs	Six	Four	Strike Rate	Bat Pts	W	Eco	Bowl Pts	Field Pts	M	MVPI
Sanath Jayasuriya	SL	141	0	20	110.16	175.3	3	4.5	84.0	0	3	259
Angelo Mathews	SL	84	1	6	77.78	78.0	6	3.9	166.0	0	3	244
Sachin Tendulkar	IND	211	1	21	95.48	237.8	0	--	0.0	0	3	238
Yuvraj Singh	IND	80	1	10	105.26	96.7	4	3.9	120.0	0	3	217
Thilina Kandamby	SL	172	0	15	86.87	179.0	0	--	0.0	4	3	183
Harbhajan Singh	IND	4	0	0	40.00	-0.3	6	4.8	156.3	12	3	168
Suresh Raina	IND	53	2	4	86.89	55.2	2	3.7	66.0	8	3	129
Lasith Malinga [ Images ]	SL	0	0	0	0.00	-0.8	6	5.9	128.8	0	3	128
Thilan Thushara	SL	21	0	3	110.53	26.2	4	5.0	100.0	0	3	126
Daniel Vettori	NZ	35	0	1	63.64	24.2	3	3.6	101.0	0	2	125
Nuwan Kulasekara [ Images ]	SL	17	0	2	100.00	19.8	3	4.1	94.0	4	3	118
Shane Bond	NZ	11	0	1	78.57	10.3	3	3.7	102.0	0	2	112
RP Singh	IND	19	0	2	76.00	17.2	3	5.4	66.0	25	3	108
MS Dhoni	IND	99	0	7	68.28	77.2	0	--	0.0	28	3	105
Thilan Samaraweera [ Images ]	SL	104	0	10	83.87	104.7	0	--	0.0	0	1	105
Ishant Sharma	IND	13	0	2	48.15	3.5	4	5.3	91.0	4	3	99
Ashish Nehra	IND	1	0	0	25.00	-1.3	4	5.3	93.5	4	3	96
Tillakaratne Dilshan [ Images ]	SL	69	0	14	111.29	86.3	0	8.5	-7.0	4	3	83
Kumar Sangakkara [ Images ]	SL	56	0	1	57.14	30.3	0	--	0.0	49	3	79
Chamara Kapugedera [ Images ]	SL	71	0	5	83.53	71.2	0	--	0.0	4	2	75
Rahul Dravid	IND	100	2	6	63.69	69.2	0	--	0.0	4	3	73
Jacob Oram [ Images ]	NZ	28	0	3	58.33	16.0	1	3.2	49.0	4	2	69
Ajantha Mendis [ Images ]	SL	7	0	0	70.00	5.7	2	4.7	55.7	4	3	65
Ian Butler	NZ	31	1	1	44.93	4.5	2	5.7	40.0	4	2	49
Dinesh Karthik	IND	20	0	2	58.82	11.7	0	--	0.0	0	2	12
Daryl Tuffey	NZ	2	0	0	28.57	-1.8	1	3.9	35.0	0	1	33
Grant Elliott [ Images ]	NZ	63	0	2	54.78	30.2	0	4.5	1.0	0	2	31
Kyle Mills [ Images ]	NZ	6	0	0	30.00	-4.7	1	4.5	27.5	0	1	23
Yusuf Pathan	IND	1	0	0	16.67	-3.0	2	7.2	24.0	0	3	21
Neil Broom	NZ	21	0	0	75.00	18.7	0	--	0.0	0	1	19
Ross Taylor [ Images ]	NZ	13	0	2	68.42	10.2	0	--	0.0	8	2	18
M Jayawardene [ Images ]	SL	18	0	2	58.06	10.2	0	--	0.0	0	3	10
Martin Guptill [ Images ]	NZ	25	0	3	45.45	4.2	0	6.0	-2.0	8	2	10
Nathan McCullum	NZ	0	0	0	0.00	-0.8	0	3.9	8.0	0	1	7
Virat Kohli	IND	2	0	0	100.00	2.3	0	--	0.0	0	1	2
Jesse Ryder [ Images ]	NZ	0	0	0	0.00	-3.3	0	--	0.0	0	2	-3
Brendon McCullum	NZ	17	0	1	27.87	-16.8	0	--	0.0	0	2	-17