India's ODI team is playing incredible cricket, with practically every player in peak form. But who are the players offering the greatest value to the team at the moment?
In One-Day Internationals, batsmen offer the best value if they score a lot of runs with good strike rates, bowlers if they take a lot of wickets at good (low) economy rates and fielders if they take the most catches or make the most run outs.
The most valuable player index (MVPI) collapses a player's all-round performance into a suitable 'run equivalent'.
Table 1, below, confirms that Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh have so far been India's most valuable players this season.
Table 1: India's most valuable players in the 2008-09 ODI season (18 matches so far):
| Rank | Player | Runs | Balls | Str Rate | Bat Pts | Bb | Rc | W | Eco | Bowl Pts | Ct St | Run Outs | Field Pts | M | MVPI |
| 1 | V Sehwag | 721 | 568 | 126.9 | 968.7 | 263 | 250 | 7 | 5.7 | 144.2 | 4 | 0 | 20 | 12 | 1133 |
| 2 | Yuvraj Singh | 685 | 643 | 106.5 | 834.2 | 372 | 311 | 9 | 5.0 | 224.0 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 17 | 1068 |
| 3 | MS Dhoni | 700 | 803 | 87.2 | 730.8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0.0 | 27 | 4.5 | 247.5 | 18 | 978 |
| 4 | G Gambhir | 679 | 704 | 96.4 | 771.3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0.0 | 7.0 | 1 | 60 | 17 | 831 |
| 5 | Suresh Raina | 627 | 664 | 94.4 | 700.7 | 18 | 22 | 0 | 7.3 | -7.0 | 9 | 2 | 95 | 18 | 789 |
| 6 | Zaheer Khan | 19 | 73 | 26.0 | -22.8 | 458 | 272 | 15 | 3.6 | 484.7 | 3 | 0.5 | 27.5 | 9 | 489 |
| 7 | Munaf Patel | 20 | 18 | 111.1 | 25.0 | 388 | 275 | 12 | 4.3 | 348.3 | 1 | 1 | 30 | 9 | 403 |
| 8 | H Singh | 25 | 54 | 46.3 | 5.0 | 370 | 278 | 12 | 4.5 | 330.3 | 2 | 1 | 35 | 8 | 370 |
| 9 | Irfan Pathan | 105 | 126 | 83.3 | 105.0 | 460 | 416 | 10 | 5.4 | 217.3 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 9 | 327 |
| 10 | Rohit Sharma | 289 | 412 | 70.1 | 234.7 | 83 | 42 | 0 | 3.0 | 27.2 | 3 | 1.5 | 52.5 | 17 | 314 |
| 11 | P Kumar | 16 | 25 | 64.0 | 11.2 | 495 | 417 | 11 | 5.1 | 270.5 | 3 | 0.5 | 27.5 | 10 | 309 |
| 12 | RP Singh | 8 | 19 | 42.1 | 0.2 | 420 | 413 | 12 | 5.9 | 237.0 | 2 | 2 | 60 | 9 | 297 |
| 13 | Yusuf Pathan | 96 | 89 | 107.9 | 117.8 | 286 | 276 | 6 | 5.8 | 112.3 | 4 | 0.5 | 32.5 | 11 | 263 |
| 14 | Piyush Chawla | 2 | 7 | 28.6 | -1.8 | 322 | 295 | 11 | 5.5 | 248.3 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 252 |
| 15 | Ishant Sharma | 8 | 19 | 42.1 | 0.2 | 480 | 486 | 12 | 6.1 | 214.0 | 3 | 0 | 15 | 9 | 229 |
| 16 | Pragyan Ojha | 27 | 46 | 58.7 | 15.7 | 258 | 173 | 5 | 4.0 | 167.0 | 3 | 0 | 15 | 5 | 198 |
| 17 | Virat Kohli | 159 | 239 | 66.5 | 118.8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0.0 | 3 | 0.5 | 27.5 | 5 | 146 |
| 18 | M Gony | 0 | 0 | - | 0.0 | 94 | 76 | 2 | 4.9 | 52.3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 52 |
| 19 | R Uthappa | 37 | 61 | 60.7 | 23.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 23 |
| 20 | S Badrinath | 39 | 87 | 44.8 | 5.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0.0 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 3 | 16 |
| 21 | S Tendulkar | 11 | 21 | 52.4 | 4.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0.0 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 15 |
Runs (scored) | Balls (faced) | Strike rate | Bat-pts: Batting points | Bb: Balls bowled | Rc: Runs conceded | W: Wickets taken | Eco: Economy rate | 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.
Sehwag tops the list with a MVPI of 1133; this contribution is even more noteworthy because he has played in only 12 of the 18 ODI matches played so far this season. Yuvraj is second after his two electric centuries and a four-wicket haul.
Zaheer Khan is sixth because he has played in only nine ODI matches so far this season. But he should soon climb into the top five if he keeps taking wickets (15 so far) at such a remarkable economy rate (3.6 runs per over).
Sachin Tendulkar has played just one ODI match this season; but we would do well to remember that he was India's most valuable ODI player in the preceding 2007-08 season.
Yuvraj and Andrew Flintoff have been their country's most valuable players so far in the ongoing India-England ODI series. At this point of time, Yuvraj seems to be the favourite to bag the player of the series award.
Table 2: The most valuable players in the India-England ODI series (4 matches so far)
| Rank | Player | Team | Runs | Balls | Strike Rate | Bat Pts | Bb | Rc | W | Eco | Bowl Pts | Ct St | Run Outs | Field Pts | M | MVPI |
| 1 | Yuvraj Singh | IND | 319 | 242 | 131.8 | 436.3 | 138 | 113 | 5 | 4.9 | 127.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 563 |
| 2 | V Sehwag | IND | 223 | 210 | 106.2 | 271.0 | 90 | 100 | 4 | 6.7 | 75.0 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 4 | 356 |
| 3 | A Flintoff | ENG | 114 | 114 | 100.0 | 133.0 | 198 | 167 | 4 | 5.1 | 98.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 231 |
| 4 | Owais Shah | ENG | 170 | 173 | 98.3 | 195.8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0.0 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 4 | 206 |
| 5 | G Gambhir | IND | 175 | 193 | 90.7 | 189.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0.0 | 3 | 0 | 15 | 3 | 204 |
| 6 | Stuart Broad | ENG | 48 | 40 | 120.0 | 62.7 | 210 | 214 | 6 | 6.1 | 111.0 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 4 | 184 |
| 7 | Zaheer Khan | IND | 1 | 7 | 14.3 | -3.8 | 180 | 128 | 6 | 4.3 | 172.0 | 3 | 0 | 15 | 4 | 183 |
| 8 | Harbhajan | IND | 8 | 10 | 80.0 | 7.7 | 192 | 165 | 6 | 5.2 | 145.0 | 1 | 0.5 | 17.5 | 4 | 170 |
| 9 | K Pietersen | ENG | 114 | 126 | 90.5 | 123.0 | 66 | 67 | 1 | 6.1 | 13.0 | 0 | 1 | 25 | 4 | 161 |
| 10 | Munaf Patel | IND | 0 | 1 | 0.0 | -0.8 | 142 | 109 | 5 | 4.6 | 134.3 | 0 | 1 | 25 | 4 | 159 |
| 11 | MS Dhoni | IND | 92 | 114 | 80.7 | 89.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0.0 | 7 | 1 | 60 | 4 | 149 |
| 12 | Samit Patel | ENG | 85 | 91 | 93.4 | 94.2 | 120 | 157 | 3 | 7.9 | 18.0 | 1 | 1 | 30 | 4 | 142 |
| 13 | Yusuf Pathan | IND | 68 | 48 | 141.7 | 96.0 | 52 | 83 | 3 | 9.6 | 35.3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 131 |
| 14 | Ravi Bopara | ENG | 118 | 132 | 89.4 | 126.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 126 |
| 15 | Ian Bell | ENG | 84 | 100 | 84.0 | 84.7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0.0 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 4 | 95 |
| 16 | Suresh Raina | IND | 48 | 61 | 78.7 | 45.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0.0 | 2 | 1 | 35 | 4 | 80 |
| 17 | G Swann | ENG | 10 | 9 | 111.1 | 12.5 | 72 | 68 | 3 | 5.7 | 67.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 80 |
| 18 | Ishant Sharma | IND | 0 | 0 | - | 0.0 | 84 | 101 | 4 | 7.2 | 69.0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 74 |
| 19 | P Collingwood | ENG | 44 | 54 | 81.5 | 43.0 | 54 | 58 | 1 | 6.4 | 12.0 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 4 | 65 |
| 20 | Rohit Sharma | IND | 42 | 62 | 67.7 | 32.3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0.0 | 0 | 0.5 | 12.5 | 3 | 45 |
| 21 | S Harmison | ENG | 6 | 7 | 85.7 | 6.2 | 102 | 125 | 3 | 7.4 | 35.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 41 |
| 22 | Matt Prior | ENG | 47 | 86 | 54.7 | 22.3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0.0 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 4 | 32 |
| 23 | S Tendulkar | IND | 11 | 21 | 52.4 | 4.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0.0 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 15 |
Runs (scored) | Balls (faced) | Strike rate | Bat-pts: Batting points | Bb: Balls bowled | Rc: Runs conceded | W: Wickets taken | Eco: Economy rate | 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 and Purnendu Maji work for Cranes Software International Limited, Bangalore.