SPORTS

Yuvraj Singh in MVP race with Virender Sehwag

By Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji
February 09, 2009 17:56 IST

Yuvraj Singh was the most valuable player (MVP) in the recently-concluded Sri Lanka - India ODI series, but Virender Sehwag continues to be India's most valuable ODI player so far in the 2008-09 season.

The MVP index (MVPI) is calculated based on the assumption that, in ODI cricket, 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 MVPI collapses the player's all-round performance into a single 'run equivalent'.

Kumar Sangakkara (MVPI = 318) is the only Sri Lankan to figure in the top five, in a series that saw dominating performances from Yuvraj, Dhoni, Sehwag and Gambhir.

It is especially interesting to note that Ishant Sharma took the most wickets (10) in the ODI series; one tends to think of Ishant more as a top Test match bowler.

Sachin Tendulkar, who was India's most valuable ODI player last season, is at the bottom of the list after being a victim of three poor umpiring decisions. It's unlikely that something like this will ever happen again.

Table 1: The most valuable players in the Sri Lanka - India ODI series

Rank Player Team Runs Balls Str Rate Bat Pts Bb Rc W Eco Bowl Pts Ct St Run Outs Field Pts M MVPI
1 Yuvraj Singh IND 284 291 97.6 325.5 88 90 4 6.1 83.3 3 0.5 27.5 5 436
2 MS Dhoni IND 266 299 89.0 282.8 0 0 0 - 0.0 5 2 75.0 5 358
3 K Sangakkara SL 271 320 84.7 275.3 0 0 0 - 0.0 6 0.5 42.5 5 318
4 V Sehwag IND 169 130 130.0 229.7 144 118 3 4.9 77 1 0 5 4 312
5 G Gambhir IND 262 267 98.1 301.5 0 0 0 - 0.0 2 0 10.0 5 312
6 S Jayasuriya SL 188 190 98.9 217.7 114 114 2 6.0 31.0 2 1.3 42.5 5 291
7 N Kulasekara SL 53 46 115.2 67.7 270 266 7 5.9 134.0 3 1 40.0 5 242
8 F Maharoof SL 124 122 101.6 146.3 245 249 5 6.1 80.2 0 0 0.0 5 227
9 Ishant Sharma IND 4 6 66.7 3.0 240 243 10 6.1 207.0 2 0 10.0 5 220
10 Pragyan Ojha IND 0 0 - 0.0 222 163 7 4.4 197.0 1 0 5.0 4 202
11 T Dilshan SL 174 199 87.4 182.2 61 63 1 6.2 12.8 1 0 5.0 5 200
12 Suresh Raina IND 141 168 83.9 142.0 84 59 0 4.2 11.0 4 1 45.0 5 198
13 Yusuf Pathan IND 83 80 103.8 99.3 108 86 1 4.8 29.0 2 2 60.0 4 188
14 M Muralitharan SL 6 10 60.0 3.7 300 251 5 5.0 124.0 2 0.9 32.5 5 160
15 Praveen Kumar IND 15 21 71.4 12.5 146 101 5 4.2 145.7 0 0 0 3 158
16 T Kandamby SL 156 215 72.6 132.8 0 0 0 - 0.0 1 0 5.0 5 138
17 Ajantha Mendis SL 8 21 38.1 -1.5 234 199 5 5.1 121.0 0 0 0.0 4 120
18 Zaheer Khan IND 17 23 73.9 14.8 168 140 3 5.0 75.0 1 0.5 17.5 3 107
19 M Jayawardene SL 122 171 71.3 101.5 0 0 0 - 0.0 1 0 5.0 5 107
20 C Kapugedera SL 64 73 87.7 67.2 0 0 0 - 0.0 3 0 15.0 5 82
21 Rohit Sharma IND 44 58 75.9 39.7 36 35 0 5.8 -5.0 4 1 45.0 3 80
22 Irfan Pathan IND 8 21 38.1 -1.5 96 113 4 7.1 67 0 0 0 2 66
23 Thilan Thushara SL 30 30 100.0 35.0 132 137 2 6.2 23.0 0 0.3 7.5 3 66
24 R Jadeja IND 60 77 77.9 55.8 36 40 0 6.7 -10 0 0.5 12.5 1 58
25 D Fernando SL 28 31 90.3 30.2 102 127 1 7.5 -17 1 1 30 2 43
26 S Tendulkar IND 18 37 48.6 5.2 6 11 0 11.0 -6.0 2 0.5 22.5 3 22

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.

Table 2 shows India's most valuable ODI players this season. Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma, who have bowled extremely well together, figure below Gambhir and Raina only because they have played far fewer matches.

Sehwag and Yuvraj are always likely to figure close to the top because they bat explosively and also pick up a decent number of wickets with their slow spinners.

Table 2: India's most valuable players in the 2008-09 ODI season (24 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 981 771 127.2 1319.5 407 368 10 5.4 221.2 5 0 25 17 1566
2 Yuvraj Singh 975 943 103.4 1164.2 520 439 13 5.1 319.3 6 0.5 42.5 23 1526
3 MS Dhoni 1016 1163 87.4 1062.8 0 0 0 - 0.0 32 6.5 322.5 24 1385
4 G Gambhir 941 971 96.9 1072.8 0 0 0 - 0.0 9.0 1 70 22 1143
5 Suresh Raina 822 885 92.9 906.5 102 81 0 4.8 4.0 13 3 140 24 1051
6 Zaheer Khan 36 96 37.5 -8.0 686 472 20 4.1 599.7 4 1 45 13 637
8 Ishant Sharma 12 25 48.0 3.2 780 783 23 6.0 442.0 5 0 25 15 470
7 P Kumar 31 46 67.4 23.7 641 518 16 4.8 416.2 3 0.5 27.5 13 467
9 Yusuf Pathan 179 169 105.9 217.2 394 362 7 5.5 141.3 6 2.5 92.5 17 451
15 Rohit Sharma 341 480 71.0 282.0 119 77 0 3.9 22.2 7 2.5 97.5 21 402
13 Munaf Patel 20 18 111.1 25.0 418 307 12 4.4 341.3 2 1 35 10 401
11 Pragyan Ojha 27 46 58.7 15.7 480 336 12 4.2 364.0 4 0 20 9 400
12 H Singh 25 54 46.3 5.0 430 325 13 4.5 358.3 2 1 35 9 398
10 Irfan Pathan 113 147 76.9 103.5 616 586 14 5.7 277.3 1 0 5 12 386
14 RP Singh 8 19 42.1 0.2 420 413 12 5.9 237.0 2 2 60 9 297
16 Piyush Chawla 2 7 28.6 -1.8 322 295 11 5.5 248.3 1 0 5 6 252
17 Virat Kohli 159 239 66.5 118.8 0 0 0 - 0.0 3 0.5 27.5 5 146
18 S Tendulkar 79 115 68.7 62.2 6 11 0 11.0 -6.0 6 0.5 42.5 5 99
19 M Gony 0 0 - 0.0 94 76 2 4.9 52.3 0 0 0 2 52
20 R Uthappa 37 61 60.7 23.2 0 0 0 - 0.0 0 0 0 3 23
21 S Badrinath 39 87 44.8 5.5 0 0 0 - 0.0 2 0 10 3 16
22 L Balaji 7 10 70.0 5.7 30 32 0 6.4 -7.0 0 0 0 1 -1

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

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