Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji present the most valuable players in the just-concluded Asia Cup in?Mirpur. Bangladesh's Shakib Al Hasan is the tournament's MVP. The in-form Virat Kohli, who placed second, is the best among the Indian players by a long way!
The two teams that contested the Asia Cup final -- Bangladesh and Pakistan -- were the keenest to get there.
For India, Sachin Tendulkar's 100th international century and the thumping win over Pakistan seemed enough reward.
For Sri Lanka, nothing seemed to matter -- as their tired players, after a gruelling schedule, just wanted to get back home.
Shakib Al Hasan's all-round performance -- 237 runs at a strike rate of over 110, and six wickets at an economy rate of 5.0, made him the most valuable player of the Asia Cup.
Virat Kohli, with an aggregate of 357 from just three innings, is second on the list, and Mohammad Hafeez richly deserves third place. He could have contributed even more value if he had taken more than three wickets or batted with a better strike rate.
For the Indian batsmen, it was far too easy, but run your fingers down the list to look for Indian bowlers; there is no one in the top 20!
R Ashwin has become too inert. Irfan Pathan and Praveen Kumar took five wickets apiece but conceded too many runs (economy rate of 6.0 and 6.7 respectively).
Aren't we missing the experience of Harbhajan Singh?
Table 1: Most valuable players in the Asia Cup (March 11-22, 2012)
| Player Name | Team | Runs | Top score | Strike Rate | W | Eco | M | MVPI | |
| 1 | Shakib Al Hasan | BAN | 237 | 68 | 110.2 | 6 | 5.0 | 4 | 478 |
| 2 | Virat Kohli | IND | 357 | 183 | 102.0 | 0 | 3 | 442 | |
| 3 | Mohammad Hafeez | PAK | 245 | 105 | 67.9 | 3 | 3.9 | 4 | 317 |
| 4 | Umar Gul | PAK | 43 | 39 | 134.4 | 9 | 5.8 | 4 | 261 |
| 5 | Tamim Iqbal | BAN | 253 | 70 | 80.8 | 0 | 4 | 250 | |
| 6 | Saeed Ajmal | PAK | 12 | 8 | 120.0 | 8 | 4.3 | 4 | 248 |
| 7 | Nasir Jamshed | PAK | 193 | 112 | 96.0 | 0 | 4 | 234 | |
| 8 | Abdur Razzak | BAN | 7 | 6 | 63.6 | 6 | 3.9 | 4 | 211 |
| 9 | Mashrafe Mortaza | BAN | 19 | 18 | 158.3 | 6 | 4.4 | 4 | 205 |
| 10 | Nasir Hossain | BAN | 165 | 54 | 71.4 | 0 | 6.0 | 4 | 192 |
| 11 | Umar Akmal | PAK | 156 | 77 | 96.9 | 0 | 4 | 183 | |
| 12 | Aizaz Cheema | PAK | 9 | 9 | 81.8 | 8 | 5.9 | 4 | 178 |
| 13 | Sachin Tendulkar | IND | 172 | 114 | 80.4 | 0 | 7.2 | 3 | 167 |
| 14 | Upul Tharanga | SL | 122 | 57 | 91.0 | 0 | 3 | 147 | |
| 15 | Suresh Raina | IND | 93 | 51 | 152.5 | 0 | 5.5 | 3 | 143 |
| 16 | Shahid Afridi | PAK | 41 | 32 | 107.9 | 3 | 4.8 | 4 | 138 |
| 17 | Mushfiqur Rahim | BAN | 60 | 46 | 142.9 | 0 | 4 | 135 | |
| 18 | Mahela Jayawardene | SL | 95 | 78 | 110.5 | 0 | 3 | 123 | |
| 19 | Kumar Sangakkara | SL | 142 | 71 | 73.6 | 0 | 3 | 123 | |
| 20 | MS Dhoni | IND | 71 | 46 | 186.8 | 0 | 3 | 120 | |
| 21 | Ravichandran Ashwin | IND | 0 | 0 | 5 | 5.2 | 3 | 119 | |
| 22 | Nazmul Hossain | BAN | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4.3 | 2 | 117 | |
| 23 | Gautam Gambhir | IND | 111 | 100 | 81.6 | 0 | 3 | 114 | |
| 24 | Younis Khan | PAK | 67 | 52 | 103.1 | 0 | 4 | 105 | |
| 25 | Irfan Pathan | IND | 0 | 0 | 5 | 6.0 | 3 | 104 | |
| 26 | Mahmudullah | BAN | 53 | 32 | 101.9 | 1 | 4.9 | 4 | 95 |
| 27 | Misbah-ul-Haq | PAK | 97 | 72 | 72.4 | 0 | 4 | 92 | |
| 28 | Farveez Maharoof | SL | 23 | 18 | 76.7 | 3 | 5.5 | 3 | 90 |
| 29 | Praveen Kumar | IND | 0 | 0 | 5 | 6.7 | 3 | 80 | |
| 30 | Rohit Sharma | IND | 72 | 68 | 80.9 | 0 | 5.8 | 3 | 74 |
| 31 | Suranga Lakmal | SL | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 4 | 5.9 | 3 | 74 |
| 32 | S Senanayake | SL | 19 | 19 | 90.5 | 2 | 4.8 | 1 | 73 |
| 33 | Lahiru Thirimanne | SL | 84 | 48 | 65.6 | 0 | 3 | 71 | |
| 34 | Jahurul Islam | BAN | 78 | 53 | 65.5 | 0 | 4 | 69 | |
| 35 | Vinay Kumar | IND | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6.1 | 1 | 65 | |
| 36 | Sarfraz Ahmed | PAK | 65 | 46 | 81.3 | 0 | 3 | 63 | |
| 37 | Hammad Azam | PAK | 38 | 30 | 80.9 | 1 | 5.9 | 3 | 56 |
| 38 | Nuwan Kulasekara | SL | 16 | 11 | 55.2 | 2 | 5.2 | 3 | 54 |
| 39 | Tillakaratne Dilshan | SL | 46 | 20 | 90.2 | 0 | 5.6 | 3 | 41 |
| 40 | Ashok Dinda | IND | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6.4 | 2 | 32 | |
| 41 | Nazimuddin | BAN | 57 | 30 | 53.3 | 0 | 4 | 30 | |
| 42 | Ravindra Jadeja | IND | 4 | 4 | 200.0 | 1 | 6.3 | 2 | 28 |
| 43 | Shafiul Islam | BAN | 1 | 1 | 50.0 | 1 | 5.6 | 2 | 22 |
| 44 | Shahadat Hossain | BAN | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 4 | 7.1 | 4 | 20 |
| 45 | Seekkuge Prasanna | SL | 13 | 8 | 44.8 | 1 | 5.6 | 2 | 17 |
| 46 | Lasith Malinga | SL | 11 | 10 | 57.9 | 0 | 4.6 | 2 | 13 |
| 47 | Dinesh Chandimal | SL | 13 | 13 | 50.0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | |
| 48 | Asad Shafiq | PAK | 4 | 4 | 66.7 | 0 | 1 | 3 | |
| 49 | Yusuf Pathan | IND | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.0 | 1 | -5 | |
| 50 | Wahab Riaz | PAK | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12.5 | 1 | -30 |
Runs (scored) | Top score | Strike rate | W: Wickets taken | Eco: Economy rate | | M: Matches played | MVPI: Most valuable player index = 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 India's top performers in the on-going 2011-12 ODI season, Kohli towers over everyone else. Suresh Raina, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Gautam Gambhir have had their moments, Ashwin has got enough wickets and Ravindra Jadeja, as always, has done enough to stay in the team, but never enough to win the team matches.
Virender Sehwag has been lackadaisical, Sachin Tendulkar has been lacklustre, and Yuvraj Singh has been sadly absent because of his illness. Many would consider this trio to make the difference between a good and a great team.?
Table 2: India's most valuable players in the 2011-12 ODI season (31 matches so far)
| Player Name | Runs | Six | Four | Strike Rate | Bat Pts | W | Eco | Bowl Pts | Field Pts | M | MVPI | |
| 1 | Virat Kohli | 1636 | 6 | 155 | 91.9 | 1788.7 | 2 | 5.7 | 26.0 | 110 | 31 | 1925 |
| 2 | Suresh Raina | 812 | 19 | 69 | 103.8 | 972.3 | 8 | 4.7 | 213.2 | 85 | 31 | 1271 |
| 3 | R Ashwin | 193 | 0 | 14 | 79.1 | 182.7 | 33 | 4.8 | 867.8 | 70 | 26 | 1121 |
| 4 | Ravindra Jadeja | 325 | 2 | 25 | 81.5 | 317.5 | 28 | 5.1 | 673.3 | 75 | 23 | 1066 |
| 5 | MS Dhoni | 724 | 15 | 52 | 94.0 | 806.3 | 0 | 0.0 | 210 | 20 | 1016 | |
| 6 | Rohit Sharma | 713 | 11 | 46 | 85.1 | 727.7 | 2 | 6.6 | 18.0 | 72.5 | 18 | 818 |
| 7 | Gautam Gambhir | 746 | 1 | 70 | 85.1 | 761.2 | 0 | 0.0 | 40 | 20 | 801 | |
| 8 | Vinay Kumar | 43 | 0 | 2 | 43.9 | 4.3 | 26 | 5.4 | 586.2 | 47.5 | 20 | 638 |
| 9 | Parthiv Patel | 446 | 6 | 44 | 80.9 | 432.8 | 0 | 0.0 | 147.5 | 20 | 580 | |
| 10 | Praveen Kumar | 67 | 3 | 4 | 100.0 | 78.2 | 20 | 5.0 | 455.0 | 17.5 | 20 | 551 |
| 11 | Virendra Sehwag | 330 | 8 | 42 | 121.3 | 433.3 | 3 | 5.4 | 69.0 | 15 | 9 | 517 |
| 12 | IK Pathan | 100 | 4 | 9 | 102.0 | 118.3 | 13 | 5.2 | 290.8 | 22.5 | 8 | 432 |
| 13 | Sachin Tendulkar | 315 | 2 | 35 | 81.4 | 307.5 | 0 | -3.7 | 32.5 | 10 | 336 | |
| 14 | Amit Mishra | 5 | 0 | 0 | 33.3 | -2.5 | 11 | 4.0 | 326.0 | 5 | 5 | 329 |
| 15 | Ajinkya Rahane | 340 | 3 | 33 | 75.1 | 302.5 | 0 | 0.0 | 10 | 11 | 313 | |
| 16 | Umesh Yadav | 23 | 0 | 4 | 76.7 | 21.0 | 15 | 6.1 | 268.7 | 10 | 12 | 300 |
| 17 | Munaf Patel | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 10 | 5.6 | 213.3 | 25 | 8 | 238 | |
| 18 | Manoj Tiwary | 163 | 2 | 16 | 80.7 | 157.7 | 1 | 6.9 | 6.0 | 60 | 5 | 224 |
| 19 | Harbhajan Singh | 47 | 2 | 1 | 69.1 | 37.3 | 4 | 3.6 | 143.0 | 10 | 3 | 190 |
| 20 | Rahul Sharma | 1 | 0 | 0 | 50.0 | 0.3 | 5 | 5.0 | 124.7 | 17.5 | 3 | 143 |
| 21 | Zaheer Khan | 9 | 0 | 2 | 81.8 | 8.8 | 5 | 5.1 | 123.0 | 0 | 4 | 132 |
| 22 | Rahul Dravid | 124 | 0 | 9 | 77.5 | 114.7 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 5 | 115 | |
| 23 | A Mithun | 23 | 2 | 2 | 143.8 | 32.7 | 3 | 6.4 | 49.0 | 5 | 3 | 87 |
| 24 | Yusuf Pathan | 42 | 2 | 2 | 91.3 | 45.7 | 2 | 5.7 | 30.0 | 5 | 6 | 81 |
| 25 | RP Singh | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 4 | 6.5 | 68.0 | 5 | 3 | 73 | |
| 26 | Shikhar Dhawan | 69 | 1 | 4 | 57.0 | 37.2 | 0 | 0.0 | 5 | 4 | 42 | |
| 27 | Varun Aaron | 6 | 0 | 1 | 54.5 | 2.8 | 2 | 5.9 | 32.0 | 0 | 2 | 35 |
| 28 | Ashok Dinda | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 2 | 31.7 | 0 | 2 | 32 | ||
| 29 | Ishant Sharma | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | -4.2 | 1 | 5.5 | 14.3 | 5 | 2 | 15 |
| 30 | S Badrinath | 40 | 0 | 3 | 47.1 | 9.2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 4 | 9 |
Runs (scored) | Sixes | Fours | Strike rate | Bat-pts: Batting points | W: Wickets taken | Eco: Economy rate | Bowl-pts: Bowling points | Field-pts: fielding points | M: Matches played | MVPI: Most valuable player index = 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.
Photograph: Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images
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