Tendulkar continues to lead MVP

The only thing Sachin Tendulkar has done wrong after the 2007 World Cup is to keep getting out in the 90's, often exactly at 99. Otherwise we are witnessing one of Tendulkar's best years in one-day internationals.

Yuvraj Singh (2) continues to bring tremendous value to India's ODI team. Mahendra Singh Dhoni (3) is having another great season, and Irfan Pathan (14) and Harbhajan Singh (11) are making encouraging comebacks.

• Tendulkar's nineties' jinx continues

Rudra Pratap Singh (6) has bowled wonderfully well to already bag 23 wickets this season, and there is no doubt that when the going gets tougher in Australia, Rahul Dravid (7) will return to the Indian ODI team.

Table 1: India's most valuable players after the 2007 World Cup (24 matches)

Player	Runs	Balls	Bat-pts	Rc	Bb	W	Bowl-pts	Ct|St	Run outs	Field-pts	M	Total
Sachin Tendulkar	988	1223	997.6	247	234	5	60.2	5	0.5	37	21	1094.8
Yuvraj Singh	828	987	866.4	406	405	9	134	6	2.5	91.5	24	1091.9
MS Dhoni	608	763	605.6	0	0	0	0	18|9	4.5	290	22	895.6
Sourav Ganguly	606	845	536	271	318	4	79.4	1	1	29	19	644.4
Zaheer Khan	148	208	129.6	960	1100	20	400	2	2.5	70	21	599.6
R P Singh	26	55	8	735	825	23	477	2	2	58.5	17	543.5
Rahul Dravid	462	554	480.8	0	0	0	0	10	0.5	62	20	542.8
Gautam Gambhir	548	729	512.8	0	0	0	0	2	0	10	16	522.8
Robin Uthappa	321	299	402.8	0	0	0	0	5	2	73	12	475.8
Piyush Chawla	20	34	12.8	538	666	17	402.8	8	0.5	52	13	467.6
Harbhajan Singh	101	119	106.8	387	504	7	184.2	5	0	25	9	316
Ramesh Powar	46	78	29.6	528	668	10	246.4	2	0	10	13	286
Dinesh Karthik	180	217	186.4	0	0	0	0	12	0.5	82	13	268.4
Irfan Pathan	88	137	66.4	441	491	10	191.8	2	0	10	10	268.2
Murali Kartik	21	38	11.6	238	317	9	231.6	0	0	0	6	243.2
Ajit Agarkar	19	38	7.6	415	414	12	204.2	2	0.5	22	8	233.8
S Sreesanth	8	37	-13.6	308	306	12	224.8	2	0	10	6	221.2
V Sehwag	76	78	89.6	46	48	1	16.4	2	0	10	3	116.0
Munaf Patel	1	3	-0.4	208	216	6	108.8	1	0	5	5	113.4
Dinesh Mongia	34	41	35.2	106	108	3	52.4	0	0	0	2	87.6
Rohit Sharma	9	13	7.6	3	6	0	1.8	2	0	10	3	19.4
Ishant Sharma	0	0	0	38	42	0	-4.4	0	0	0	1	-4.4

Runs (scored) | Balls (taken) | Bat-pts: Batting points | | Rc: Runs conceded | Bb: Balls bowled | W: Wickets taken | Bowl-pts: Bowling points | Ct/St: Catches taken / Stumpings | Run outs (participated) | Field-pts: fielding points | M: Matches played | Total (points) = 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.

If we look at the performances so far in the ongoing India-Pakistan ODI series, Salman Butt leads the list because he has scored so heavily. Yuvraj Singh isn't too far behind and is probably a bigger favourite at this stage to become the player of the series. But there are still two games to go and numbers could change significantly after the Gwalior and Jaipur matches.

Table 2: Most valuable players so far in the India-Pakistan series (3 matches)

Rank	Player	Runs	Balls	Bat-pts	Rc	Bb	W	Bowl-pts	Ct|St	Run outs	Field-pts	M	Total
1	Salman Butt	216	249	232.8	0	0	0	0	0	0.5	12	3	244.8
2	Yuvraj Singh	169	218	163.6	18	30	1	30	1	1.5	41	3	234.6
3	Harbhajan Singh	48	30	72	126	180	4	114	2	0	10	3	196
4	Sachin Tendulkar	132	125	164	54	42	2	27.6	0	0	0	3	191.6
5	Mahendra Singh Dhoni	116	139	120.8	0	0	0	0	0|2	2	68	3	188.8
6	Younis Khan	163	189	174.8	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	174.8
7	Shoaib Akhtar	1	2	0.4	134	168	6	144.4	0	0	0	3	144.8
8	Misbah-ul-Haq	114	117	134.4	0	0	0	0	1	0	5	3	139.4
9	Shahid Afridi	72	53	101.6	156	162	2	21.6	2	0	10	3	133.2
10	Sohail Tanvir	14	10	20	82	120	4	110	0	0	0	2	130
11	Gautam Gambhir	126	168	117.6	0	0	0	0	1	0	5	3	122.6
12	Mohammad Yousuf	110	137	110.4	0	0	0	0	1	0	5	3	115.4
13	R P Singh	1	1	1.2	163	156	5	81.8	0	0.5	12	3	95
14	Irfan Pathan	29	29	34.8	159	167	3	46.6	1	0	5	3	86.4
15	Sourav Ganguly	84	104	84.8	55	54	0	-11.8	0	0	0	3	73
16	Kamran Akmal	27	51	13.2	0	0	0	0	4|0	1.5	56	3	69.2
17	Zaheer Khan	9	18	3.6	145	158	3	53.4	0	0	0	3	57
18	Umar Gul	2	2	2.4	152	162	3	49.6	1	0	5	3	57
19	Abdur Rehman	2	6	-0.8	112	102	3	41.6	0	0	0	2	40.8
20	Robin Uthappa	30	30	36	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	36
21	Murali Kartik	0	0	0	74	96	1	26.8	0	0	0	2	26.8
22	V Sehwag	25	31	25.2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	25.2
23	Shoaib Malik	39	68	23.6	80	78	0	-17.6	0	0	0	3	6
24	Iftikhar Anjum	0	0	0	114	90	0	-42	0	0	0	2	-42

Runs (scored) | Balls (taken) | Bat-pts: Batting points | | Rc: Runs conceded | Bb: Balls bowled | W: Wickets taken | Bowl-pts: Bowling points | Ct/St: Catches taken / Stumpings | Run outs (participated) | Field-pts: fielding points | M: Matches played | Total (points) = 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.

Srinivas Bhogle, Debasish Ghosh and K Anil Kumar work for Cranes Software International Limited, Bangalore.