Although the Indian captain M S Dhoni performs well in all three forms of cricket, he seems best equipped to play ODI cricket. In ODI cricket, a strike rate just below 100 - which is the rate Dhoni is now most comfortable with - is considered excellent. Also the 50 overs allow the calm captain sufficient leverage to swing close matches his team's way.
Dhoni emerged as the most valuable player in the West Indies-India ODI series that had a wet end last night. Yuvraj Singh is just behind him. Table 1 ranks all the players who played in the series.
Table 1: The most valuable players in the West Indies - India ODI series (4 matches played; 3 completed)
| Player | Team | Runs | Six | Four | Strike Rate | Bat Pts | W | Eco | Bowl Pts | Field Pts | M | MVPI | Age |
| MS Dhoni | IND | 182 | 4 | 10 | 86.7 | 189.0 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 55 | 4 | 244 | 28 |
| Yuvraj Singh | IND | 168 | 8 | 15 | 119.1 | 218.5 | 0 | 8.8 | -23.0 | 0 | 4 | 196 | 27 |
| Chris Gayle | WI | 128 | 3 | 19 | 134.7 | 176.8 | 0 | 6.5 | -12.0 | 10 | 4 | 175 | 29 |
| Dwayne Bravo | WI | 22 | 0 | 1 | 55.0 | 10.7 | 6 | 5.2 | 146.0 | 10 | 4 | 167 | 25 |
| Runako Morton | WI | 161 | 2 | 11 | 77.0 | 147.8 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 5 | 4 | 153 | 31 |
| Ramnaresh Sarwan | WI | 134 | 4 | 7 | 95.7 | 151.3 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 0 | 4 | 151 | 29 |
| Ashish Nehra | IND | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | -2.5 | 6 | 5.8 | 133.3 | 5 | 4 | 136 | 30 |
| Ravi Rampaul | WI | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 4 | 4.5 | 107.0 | 25 | 3 | 132 | 24 |
| Dinesh Karthik | IND | 118 | 2 | 11 | 94.4 | 131.8 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 0 | 4 | 132 | 24 |
| Denesh Ramdin | WI | 43 | 2 | 2 | 134.4 | 59.3 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 70 | 4 | 129 | 24 |
| Rohit Sharma | IND | 15 | 0 | 0 | 65.2 | 10.8 | 3 | 3.8 | 86.0 | 22.5 | 4 | 119 | 22 |
| Yusuf Pathan | IND | 41 | 2 | 2 | 83.7 | 41.2 | 4 | 7.1 | 71.0 | 0 | 4 | 112 | 26 |
| Harbhajan Singh | IND | 28 | 2 | 0 | 103.7 | 33.5 | 3 | 5.9 | 54.8 | 10 | 4 | 98 | 29 |
| Shivnarine Chanderpaul | WI | 96 | 3 | 5 | 84.2 | 97.0 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 0 | 4 | 97 | 34 |
| Jerome Taylor | WI | 22 | 0 | 4 | 129.4 | 29.8 | 4 | 6.4 | 66.8 | 0 | 4 | 97 | 25 |
| Gautam Gambhir | IND | 57 | 1 | 2 | 105.6 | 69.0 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 17.5 | 4 | 87 | 27 |
| Sulieman Benn | WI | 7 | 0 | 1 | 116.7 | 9.0 | 2 | 4.7 | 57.0 | 5 | 3 | 71 | 28 |
| Darren Bravo | WI | 40 | 0 | 5 | 129.0 | 54.2 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 5 | 4 | 59 | 20 |
| David Bernard | WI | 19 | 0 | 1 | 95.0 | 21.3 | 2 | 6.0 | 32.0 | 5 | 4 | 58 | 28 |
| Ishant Sharma | IND | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 2 | 6.4 | 30.0 | 5 | 3 | 35 | 20 |
| Ravindra Jadeja | IND | 7 | 0 | 1 | 53.8 | 3.2 | 0 | 5.1 | -1.0 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 20 |
| Lionel Baker | WI | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | -1.7 | 1 | 6.9 | 8.0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 24 |
| S Badrinath | IND | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 |
| Abhishek Nayar | IND | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 25 |
| Pragyan Ojha | IND | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 |
| Murali Vijay | IND | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 |
| Narsingh Deonarine | WI | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 |
| Praveen Kumar | IND | 1 | 0 | 0 | 20.0 | -2.2 | 0 | 5.3 | -2.0 | 0 | 1 | -4 | 22 |
| RP Singh | IND | 23 | 1 | 1 | 30.7 | -16.5 | 1 | 6.2 | 7.0 | 5 | 4 | -5 | 23 |
We will also list India's most valuable players right through the new (2009-10) ODI season. Currently, Dhoni is India's most valuable player (see Table 2), but, as the season advances, he should face greater competition from Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag (the MVP of the 2008-09 season), Sachin Tendulkar (MVP of the 2007-08 season) and perhaps even Rahul Dravid!
Table 2: India's most valuable players in the 2009-10 ODI season (4 matches so far)
| Player | Runs | Six | Four | Strike Rate | Bat Pts | W | Eco | Bowl Pts | Field Pts | M | MVPI | Age |
| MS Dhoni | 182 | 4 | 10 | 86.7 | 189.0 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 55 | 4 | 244 | 28 |
| Yuvraj Singh | 168 | 8 | 15 | 119.1 | 218.5 | 0 | 8.8 | -23.0 | 0 | 4 | 196 | 27 |
| Ashish Nehra | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | -2.5 | 6 | 5.8 | 133.3 | 5 | 4 | 136 | 30 |
| Dinesh Karthik | 118 | 2 | 11 | 94.4 | 131.8 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 0 | 4 | 132 | 24 |
| Rohit Sharma | 15 | 0 | 0 | 65.2 | 10.8 | 3 | 3.8 | 86.0 | 22.5 | 4 | 119 | 22 |
| Yusuf Pathan | 41 | 2 | 2 | 83.7 | 41.2 | 4 | 7.1 | 71.0 | 0 | 4 | 112 | 26 |
| Harbhajan Singh | 28 | 2 | 0 | 103.7 | 33.5 | 3 | 5.9 | 54.8 | 10 | 4 | 98 | 29 |
| Gautam Gambhir | 57 | 1 | 2 | 105.6 | 69.0 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 17.5 | 4 | 87 | 27 |
| Ishant Sharma | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 2 | 6.4 | 30.0 | 5 | 3 | 35 | 20 |
| Ravindra Jadeja | 7 | 0 | 1 | 53.8 | 3.2 | 0 | 5.1 | -1.0 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 20 |
| S Badrinath | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 |
| Abhishek Nayar | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 25 |
| Pragyan Ojha | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 |
| Murali Vijay | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 |
| Praveen Kumar | 1 | 0 | 0 | 20.0 | -2.2 | 0 | 5.3 | -2.0 | 0 | 1 | -4 | 22 |
| RP Singh | 23 | 1 | 1 | 30.7 | -16.5 | 1 | 6.2 | 7.0 | 5 | 4 | -5 | 23 |