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Yuvraj leads India's MVP race

Last updated on: September 20, 2009 13:42 IST

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

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 | Age | *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.
Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji