Even though Yuvraj Singh didn't seem to be quite himself -- at least till that innings in the Compaq Cup tri-series final -- he is still India's 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 has already climbed to the fourth place although he has played only three of India's seven matches this season.
Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni continues to perform impressively and Ashish Nehra has ensured that Zaheer Khan has not been missed. Virender Sehwag, 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 | 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 | 138 | 2 | 13 | 86.8 | 143.5 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 0 | 6 | 144 |
| Yusuf Pathan | 42 | 2 | 2 | 76.4 | 38.2 | 6 | 7.1 | 95.0 | 0 | 7 | 133 |
| Ishant Sharma | 13 | 0 | 2 | 48.1 | 3.5 | 6 | 5.7 | 121.0 | 8 | 6 | 133 |
| Suresh Raina | 53 | 2 | 4 | 86.9 | 55.2 | 2 | 3.7 | 66.0 | 8 | 3 | 129 |
| Rohit Sharma | 15 | 0 | 0 | 65.2 | 10.8 | 3 | 3.8 | 86.0 | 20.5 | 4 | 117 |
| RP Singh | 42 | 1 | 3 | 42.0 | 0.7 | 4 | 5.8 | 73.0 | 29 | 7 | 103 |
| Gautam Gambhir | 57 | 1 | 2 | 105.6 | 69.0 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 16.5 | 4 | 86 |
| Rahul Dravid | 100 | 2 | 6 | 63.69 | 69.2 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 4 | 3 | 73 |
| Ravindra Jadeja | 7 | 0 | 1 | 53.8 | 3.2 | 0 | 5.1 | -1.0 | 4 | 2 | 6 |
| Virat Kohli | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100.0 | 2.3 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Abhishek Nayar | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Praveen Kumar | 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 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 cricketers were very disappointing, with only Daniel Vettori and Shane Bond making it to the top dozen. And Brendon McCullum 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | SL | 69 | 0 | 14 | 111.29 | 86.3 | 0 | 8.5 | -7.0 | 4 | 3 | 83 |
| Kumar Sangakkara | SL | 56 | 0 | 1 | 57.14 | 30.3 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 49 | 3 | 79 |
| Chamara Kapugedera | 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 | NZ | 28 | 0 | 3 | 58.33 | 16.0 | 1 | 3.2 | 49.0 | 4 | 2 | 69 |
| Ajantha Mendis | 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 | NZ | 63 | 0 | 2 | 54.78 | 30.2 | 0 | 4.5 | 1.0 | 0 | 2 | 31 |
| Kyle Mills | 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 | NZ | 13 | 0 | 2 | 68.42 | 10.2 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 8 | 2 | 18 |
| M Jayawardene | SL | 18 | 0 | 2 | 58.06 | 10.2 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 0 | 3 | 10 |
| Martin Guptill | 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 | 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 |
