It's not clear if the India-New Zealand One-Day International series offered a man of the series award. But there can be no doubt that the overwhelming favourite for the award was Virender Sehwag.
Sehwag plundered almost 300 runs, at a staggering strike rate of 150, to be right at the top of the list of the most valuable players (MVP) of the series.
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'.
Jesse Ryder is the only New Zealander to make it to the top five; and although he played only three of the five matches, Sachin Tendulkar still ends up being third in a list dominated by batsmen.
Yuvraj Singh had a relatively poor series with the bat, but made it to the top five because of his 4 wickets.
Table 1: The most valuable players in the New Zealand - India ODI series (5 matches played; 4 completed)
| Rank | Player | Team | Runs | Balls | S/R | Bat Pts | Bb | Rc | W | Eco | Bowl Pts | Ct St | Run Outs | Field Pts | M | MVPI |
| 1 | V Sehwag | IND | 299 | 199 | 150.3 | 432.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0.0 | 2 | 0.5 | 22.5 | 5 | 455 |
| 2 | Jesse Ryder | NZ | 225 | 211 | 106.6 | 274.2 | 112 | 126 | 3 | 6.8 | 42.3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 317 |
| 3 | S Tendulkar | IND | 244 | 225 | 108.4 | 300.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 306 |
| 4 | MS Dhoni | IND | 184 | 187 | 98.4 | 212.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0.0 | 3 | 1.5 | 52.5 | 5 | 265 |
| 5 | Yuvraj Singh | IND | 100 | 101 | 99.0 | 115.8 | 150 | 153 | 4 | 6.1 | 72.0 | 0 | 0.5 | 12.5 | 5 | 200 |
| 6 | Suresh Raina | IND | 125 | 84 | 148.8 | 180.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0.0 | 1 | 0.5 | 17.5 | 5 | 198 |
| 7 | B McCullum | NZ | 150 | 176 | 85.2 | 153.3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0.0 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 5 | 163 |
| 8 | M Guptill | NZ | 147 | 173 | 85.0 | 149.8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0.0 | 0 | 0.5 | 12.5 | 5 | 162 |
| 9 | Kyle Mills | NZ | 54 | 34 | 158.8 | 79.7 | 186 | 200 | 4 | 6.5 | 55.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 135 |
| 10 | PD McGlashan | NZ | 63 | 51 | 123.5 | 83.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0.0 | 7 | 0 | 35 | 1 | 119 |
| 11 | Yusuf Pathan | IND | 21 | 16 | 131.3 | 28.7 | 58 | 37 | 3 | 3.8 | 86.3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 115 |
| 12 | Daniel Vettori | NZ | 26 | 15 | 173.3 | 39.5 | 114 | 107 | 2 | 5.6 | 38.0 | 0 | 1.5 | 37.5 | 4 | 115 |
| 13 | G Gambhir | IND | 113 | 146 | 77.4 | 104.3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 109 |
| 14 | H Singh | IND | 1 | 5 | 20.0 | -2.2 | 148 | 148 | 5 | 6.0 | 100.3 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 103 |
| 15 | Grant Elliott | NZ | 64 | 62 | 103.2 | 76.3 | 66 | 89 | 2 | 8.1 | 16.0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 97 |
| 16 | Ross Taylor | NZ | 71 | 76 | 93.4 | 78.7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0.0 | 3 | 0 | 15 | 5 | 94 |
| 17 | Zaheer Khan | IND | 5 | 10 | 50.0 | 1.7 | 198 | 184 | 4 | 5.6 | 81.0 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 5 | 93 |
| 18 | Ian Butler | NZ | 24 | 20 | 120.0 | 31.3 | 90 | 80 | 2 | 5.3 | 45.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 76 |
| 19 | P Kumar | IND | 6 | 12 | 50.0 | 2.0 | 151 | 161 | 4 | 6.4 | 64.8 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 72 |
| 20 | Jacob Oram | NZ | 8 | 14 | 57.1 | 4.3 | 165 | 147 | 2 | 5.3 | 40.5 | 0 | 1 | 25 | 5 | 70 |
| 21 | Ishant Sharma | IND | 3 | 7 | 42.9 | 0.2 | 92 | 120 | 3 | 7.8 | 31.7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 32 |
| 22 | Rohit Sharma | IND | 43 | 74 | 58.1 | 24.3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 29 |
| 23 | Iain O'Brien | NZ | 3 | 8 | 37.5 | -0.7 | 147 | 176 | 3 | 7.2 | 21.5 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 26 |
| 24 | Scott Styris | NZ | 0 | 0 | - | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 5 | |
| 25 | D Karthik | IND | 0 | 0 | - | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Runs (scored) | Balls (faced) | S/R: 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.
Right through the 2008-09 ODI season there has been a fierce competition between Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh for the season's top MVP slot. But it now looks as though Sehwag has run away with the prize.
Yuvraj faces stiff competition from his captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni for the second place. And there is another lively contest for the fourth place between left-handers Gautam Gambhir and Suresh Raina.
Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma continue to be the best bowlers of the 2008-09 Indian ODI season, but Zaheer is placed higher because his economy rate is much better than Ishant's -- for practically the same number of wickets.
Table 2: India's most valuable players in the 2008-09 ODI season (29 matches so far):
| Rank | Player | Runs | Balls | S/R | Bat Pts | Bb | Rc | W | Eco | Bowl Pts | Ct St | Run Outs | Field Pts | M | MVPI |
| 1 | V Sehwag | 1280 | 970 | 132.0 | 1751.7 | 407 | 368 | 10 | 5.4 | 221.2 | 7 | 0.5 | 47.5 | 22 | 2020 |
| 2 | Yuvraj Singh | 1075 | 1044 | 103.0 | 1280.0 | 670 | 592 | 17 | 5.3 | 391.3 | 6 | 1 | 55 | 28 | 1726 |
| 3 | MS Dhoni | 1200 | 1350 | 88.9 | 1275.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0.0 | 35 | 8 | 375 | 29 | 1650 |
| 4 | G Gambhir | 1054 | 1117 | 94.4 | 1177.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0.0 | 10 | 1 | 75 | 27 | 1252 |
| 5 | Suresh Raina | 947 | 969 | 97.7 | 1086.5 | 102 | 81 | 0 | 4.8 | 4.0 | 14 | 3.5 | 157.5 | 29 | 1248 |
| 6 | Zaheer Khan | 41 | 106 | 38.7 | -6.3 | 884 | 656 | 24 | 4.5 | 680.7 | 6 | 1 | 55 | 18 | 729 |
| 7 | Yusuf Pathan | 200 | 185 | 108.1 | 245.8 | 452 | 399 | 10 | 5.3 | 227.7 | 6 | 2.5 | 92.5 | 22 | 566 |
| 8 | P Kumar | 37 | 58 | 63.8 | 25.7 | 792 | 679 | 20 | 5.1 | 481.0 | 4 | 0.5 | 32.5 | 18 | 539 |
| 9 | I Sharma | 15 | 32 | 46.9 | 3.3 | 872 | 903 | 26 | 6.2 | 473.7 | 5 | 0 | 25 | 17 | 502 |
| 10 | H Singh | 26 | 59 | 44.1 | 2.8 | 578 | 473 | 18 | 4.9 | 458.7 | 3 | 1 | 40 | 14 | 502 |
| 11 | Rohit Sharma | 384 | 554 | 69.3 | 306.3 | 119 | 77 | 0 | 3.9 | 22.2 | 8 | 2.5 | 102.5 | 23 | 431 |
| 12 | S Tendulkar | 323 | 340 | 95.0 | 362.7 | 6 | 11 | 0 | 11.0 | -6.0 | 7 | 0.5 | 47.5 | 8 | 404 |
| 13 | Pragyan Ojha | 27 | 46 | 58.7 | 15.7 | 480 | 336 | 12 | 4.2 | 364.0 | 4 | 0 | 20 | 9 | 400 |
| 14 | Irfan Pathan | 113 | 147 | 76.9 | 103.5 | 616 | 586 | 14 | 5.7 | 277.3 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 12 | 386 |
| 15 | Munaf Patel | 20 | 18 | 111.1 | 25.0 | 474 | 400 | 12 | 5.1 | 295.0 | 3 | 1 | 40 | 13 | 360 |
| 16 | RP Singh | 8 | 19 | 42.1 | 0.2 | 420 | 413 | 12 | 5.9 | 237.0 | 2 | 2 | 60 | 9 | 297 |
| 17 | P Chawla | 2 | 7 | 28.6 | -1.8 | 322 | 295 | 11 | 5.5 | 248.3 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 252 |
| 18 | Virat Kohli | 159 | 239 | 66.5 | 118.8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0.0 | 3 | 0.5 | 27.5 | 5 | 146 |
| 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) | S/R: 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.