Andrew Symonds is having a fantastic ODI series so far against India: he has scored 258 runs in just 241 balls, at a remarkable strike rate of 107. After the fourth match of the 7-match ODI series, Symonds appears to be the favourite to win the player of the series award, especially if he can also pick up a few wickets.
It must be a surprise to see Ricky Ponting and Rahul Dravid, both such accomplished batsmen, low down in the list. It's also a surprise to see two Aussie non-regulars: James Hopes and Brad Haddin in the top 7.
Table 1: The most valuable players so far in the India-Australia series (4 matches)
| Rank | Player | Runs | Balls | Bat-pts | Rc | Bb | W | Bowl-pts | Ct|St | Run outs | Field-pts | M | Total |
| 1 | Andrew Symonds | 258 | 241 | 323.20 | 39 | 42 | 0 | -5.40 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 322.80 |
| 2 | Michael Clarke | 222 | 256 | 239.20 | 35 | 54 | 2 | 56.20 | 0 | 12 | 12 | 4 | 307.40 |
| 3 | Mathew Hayden | 261 | 290 | 290.00 | 0.00 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 4 | 300.00 | |||
| 4 | Yuvraj Singh | 170 | 180 | 196.00 | 99 | 96 | 2 | 25.80 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 226.80 |
| 5 | James Hopes | 75 | 60 | 102.00 | 119 | 156 | 4 | 101.80 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 203.80 |
| 6 | Mahendra Singh Dhoni | 141 | 160 | 154.00 | 0.00 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 45 | 4 | 199.00 | |||
| 7 | Brad Haddin | 156 | 152 | 190.40 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 190.40 | |||
| 8 | Brad Hogg | 0 | 1 | -0.80 | 132 | 165 | 6 | 144.00 | 1 | 12 | 17 | 4 | 160.20 |
| 9 | S Sreesanth | 8 | 37 | -13.60 | 180 | 168 | 8 | 146.40 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 3 | 142.80 |
| 10 | Irfan Pathan | 4 | 11 | -0.80 | 188 | 228 | 5 | 114.40 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 118.60 |
| 11 | Brett Lee | 7 | 11 | 5.20 | 111 | 142 | 3 | 74.60 | 1 | 24 | 29 | 4 | 108.80 |
| 12 | Robin Uthappa | 71 | 51 | 101.20 | 0.00 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 106.20 | |||
| 13 | Sachin Tendulkar | 138 | 221 | 99.20 | 44 | 42 | 0 | -10.40 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 4 | 98.80 |
| 14 | Zaheer Khan | 6 | 18 | -2.40 | 248 | 234 | 5 | 59.20 | 2 | 24 | 34 | 4 | 90.80 |
| 15 | Adam Gilchrist | 59 | 64 | 66.80 | 0.00 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 20 | 4 | 86.80 | |||
| 16 | Mitchell Johnson | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 149 | 168 | 4 | 81.40 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 86.40 |
| 17 | Stuart Clark | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 58 | 88 | 3 | 84.40 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 84.40 |
| 18 | Harbhajan Singh | 23 | 32 | 20.40 | 138 | 180 | 2 | 54.00 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 79.40 |
| 19 | Ricky Ponting | 54 | 76 | 47.20 | 0.00 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 52.20 | |||
| 20 | Rahul Dravid | 44 | 66 | 35.20 | 0.00 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 4 | 45.20 | |||
| 21 | R P Singh | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 133 | 120 | 2 | 11.00 | 0 | 24 | 24 | 2 | 35.00 |
| 22 | Sourav Ganguly | 41 | 59 | 34.80 | 7 | 6 | 0 | -2.20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 32.60 |
| 23 | Murali Kartik | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 48 | 60 | 1 | 24.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 24.00 |
| 24 | Goutam Gambhir | 17 | 34 | 6.80 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6.80 | |||
| 25 | Brad Hodge | 23 | 51 | 5.20 | 18 | 12 | 0 | -8.40 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 4 | 6.80 |
| 26 | Rohit Sharma | 1 | 4 | -1.20 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -1.20 | |||
| 27 | Nathan Bracken | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 78 | 60 | 1 | -6.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -6.00 |
| 28 | Ramesh Powar | 17 | 18 | 19.60 | 80 | 66 | 0 | -27.20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -7.60 |
India's top five players in the current (2007) season remain unchanged. It is now noticeable that the strike rates of both Sachin Tendulkar (78 this season; career rate of 85) and Sourav Ganguly (70 this season; career rate of 74) are falling, while Rahul Dravid's strike rate (84; career rate of 71) is actually going up.
Table 1: India's most valuable players after the 2007 World Cup (18 matches)
| Player | Runs | Balls | Bat-pts | Rc | Bb | W | Bowl-pts | Ct|St | Run outs | Field-pts | M | Total |
| Yuvraj Singh | 637 | 725 | 694.00 | 373 | 369 | 8 | 114.20 | 5 | 24 | 49 | 18 | 857.20 |
| Sachin Tendulkar | 716 | 917 | 698.40 | 162 | 150 | 3 | 30.00 | 3 | 12 | 27 | 15 | 755.40 |
| Mahendra Singh Dhoni | 457 | 577 | 452.40 | 0.00 | 16|7 | 48 | 198 | 16 | 650.40 | |||
| Rahul Dravid | 455 | 540 | 478.00 | 0.00 | 7 | 12 | 47 | 18 | 525.00 | |||
| Sourav Ganguly | 436 | 619 | 376.80 | 192 | 252 | 4 | 105.60 | 1 | 24 | 29 | 13 | 511.40 |
| Piyush Chawla | 20 | 34 | 12.80 | 538 | 666 | 17 | 402.80 | 8 | 12 | 52 | 13 | 467.60 |
| Zaheer Khan | 77 | 100 | 74.00 | 708 | 810 | 14 | 276.00 | 2 | 48 | 58 | 15 | 408.00 |
| Goutam Gambhir | 422 | 561 | 395.20 | 0.00 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 13 | 400.20 | |||
| R P Singh | 13 | 27 | 4.40 | 498 | 606 | 15 | 346.80 | 1 | 36 | 41 | 12 | 392.20 |
| Robin Uthappa | 195 | 176 | 249.20 | 0.00 | 3 | 24 | 39 | 6 | 288.20 | |||
| Ramesh Powar | 46 | 78 | 29.60 | 528 | 668 | 10 | 246.40 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 13 | 286.00 |
| Dinesh Karthik | 180 | 211 | 191.20 | 0.00 | 11 | 12 | 77 | 12 | 268.20 | |||
| Ajit Agarkar | 19 | 38 | 7.60 | 415 | 414 | 12 | 204.20 | 2 | 12 | 22 | 8 | 233.80 |
| Sreesanth | 8 | 37 | -13.60 | 244 | 258 | 11 | 226.40 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 5 | 222.80 |
| Irfan Pathan | 4 | 11 | -0.80 | 188 | 228 | 5 | 114.40 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 118.60 |
| Munaf Patel | 1 | 3 | -0.40 | 208 | 216 | 6 | 108.80 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 113.40 |
| Virender Sehwag | 51 | 47 | 64.40 | 46 | 48 | 1 | 16.40 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 90.80 |
| Dinesh Mongia | 34 | 41 | 35.20 | 106 | 108 | 3 | 52.40 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 87.60 |
| Harbhajan Singh | 23 | 32 | 20.40 | 138 | 180 | 2 | 54.00 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 79.40 |
| Murali Kartik | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 48 | 60 | 1 | 24.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 24.00 |
| Rohit Sharma | 9 | 13 | 7.60 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 1.80 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 3 | 19.40 |
| Ishant Sharma | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 38 | 42 | 0 | -4.40 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -4.40 |
Srinivas Bhogle, Debasish Ghosh and K Anil Kumar work for Cranes Software International Limited, Bangalore.