Virat Kohli was India's most valuable ODI player of the last (2011-12) season with a most valuable player index (MVPI) of 1925 added over India's 31 ODI matches. Suresh Raina was a distant second with an MVPI of 1271 also over 31 matches.
The MVPI formula picks out batsmen who score a lot of runs at a high strike rate, and bowlers who take a lot of wickets at a low economy rate. A MVPI of 1925 means that Kohli scored 1925 'runs' last season if his batting + bowling + fielding performance is expressed only in terms of 'runs'.
And as we commence the 2012-13 ODI season it appears that Kohli plans to continue in exactly the same vein. He was, without a doubt, the most valuable player from either side in the SL-India ODI series that ended last week with a MVPI of 324.
Table 1 lists the MVPI of all the players who played in the ODI series.
Table 1: Most valuable players in the SL-India series (Jul 21 Aug 4, 2012)
|
|
Player Name |
Team |
Runs |
Top score |
Strike Rate |
W |
Eco |
M |
MVPI |
|
1 |
Virat Kohli |
IND |
296 |
128 |
87.8 |
0 |
3.3 |
5 |
324 |
|
2 |
Thisara Perera |
SL |
64 |
44 |
128.0 |
8 |
5.8 |
5 |
276 |
|
3 |
Irfan Pathan |
IND |
76 |
34 |
92.7 |
8 |
5.3 |
5 |
273 |
|
4 |
Gautam Gambhir |
IND |
258 |
102 |
84.0 |
0 |
- |
5 |
260 |
|
5 |
Suresh Raina |
IND |
174 |
65 |
118.4 |
0 |
6.0 |
5 |
249 |
|
6 |
Angelo Mathews |
SL |
105 |
71 |
84.7 |
5 |
4.6 |
5 |
247 |
|
7 |
Kumar Sangakkara |
SL |
206 |
133 |
83.7 |
0 |
- |
3 |
220 |
|
8 |
Lasith Malinga |
SL |
44 |
19 |
169.2 |
8 |
6.2 |
5 |
210 |
|
9 |
Virender Sehwag |
IND |
148 |
96 |
100.7 |
1 |
4.7 |
4 |
203 |
|
10 |
Manoj Tiwary |
IND |
86 |
65 |
81.1 |
4 |
6.8 |
2 |
189 |
|
11 |
Ravichandran Ashwin |
IND |
23 |
21 |
115.0 |
5 |
4.5 |
5 |
177 |
|
12 |
Upul Tharanga |
SL |
177 |
59 |
80.1 |
0 |
- |
5 |
170 |
|
13 |
MS Dhoni |
IND |
135 |
58 |
102.3 |
0 |
- |
5 |
168 |
|
14 |
Jeevan Mendis |
SL |
134 |
72 |
93.1 |
1 |
5.4 |
3 |
167 |
|
15 |
Lahiru Thirimanne |
SL |
131 |
77 |
74.9 |
0 |
- |
4 |
116 |
|
16 |
Tillakaratne Dilshan |
SL |
102 |
50 |
90.3 |
0 |
5.6 |
5 |
105 |
|
17 |
Zaheer Khan |
IND |
2 |
2 |
50.0 |
4 |
5.6 |
5 |
86 |
|
18 |
Mahela Jayawardene |
SL |
80 |
65 |
88.9 |
0 |
- |
4 |
85 |
|
19 |
Rangana Herath |
SL |
17 |
17 |
106.3 |
2 |
4.9 |
4 |
73 |
|
20 |
Ashok Dinda |
IND |
0 |
0 |
- |
4 |
6.7 |
3 |
59 |
|
21 |
Nuwan Pradeep |
SL |
0 |
0 |
- |
3 |
6.4 |
2 |
50 |
|
22 |
Dinesh Chandimal |
SL |
55 |
28 |
76.4 |
0 |
- |
5 |
50 |
|
23 |
Sachithra Senanayake |
SL |
7 |
7 |
100.0 |
1 |
5.0 |
1 |
33 |
|
24 |
Nuwan Kulasekara |
SL |
1 |
1 |
33.3 |
1 |
4.0 |
1 |
30 |
|
25 |
Rahul Sharma |
IND |
0 |
0 |
- |
1 |
5.6 |
1 |
20 |
|
26 |
Isuru Udana |
SL |
0 |
0 |
- |
0 |
7.0 |
2 |
14 |
|
27 |
Chamara Kapugedera |
SL |
9 |
9 |
128.6 |
0 |
- |
1 |
12 |
|
28 |
Rohit Sharma |
IND |
13 |
5 |
35.1 |
0 |
3.7 |
5 |
7 |
|
29 |
Ajinkya Rahane |
IND |
9 |
9 |
52.9 |
0 |
- |
1 |
4 |
|
30 |
Umesh Yadav |
IND |
0 |
0 |
0.0 |
2 |
8.1 |
2 |
4 |
|
31 |
Pragyan Ojha |
IND |
5 |
5 |
27.8 |
1 |
7.5 |
2 |
3 |
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.
The table reflects the fact that India dominated the series; four of the top five players are Indian. Thisara Perera is second in the list with a MVPI of 276 after starring in the second ODI win.
A pleasant surprise is the return of Irfan Pathan, who appears to have replaced Ravindra Jadeja in the Indian ODI team. To be fair, Jadeja had a good last season with a MVPI of 1066 and a haul of 28 wickets in 23 matches. But Jadeja never looked like a match-winner.
Table 2 lists India's most valuable players at the start of the new season
Table 2: India's most valuable players in the 2012-13 ODI season (5 matches so far)
|
|
Player Name |
Runs |
6s |
4s |
Strike Rate |
Bat Pts |
W |
Eco |
Bowl Pts |
Field Pts |
M |
MVPI |
|
1 |
Virat Kohli |
296 |
1 |
25 |
87.8 |
311.2 |
0 |
3.3 |
5.0 |
7.5 |
5 |
324 |
|
2 |
Irfan Pathan |
76 |
0 |
6 |
92.7 |
83.7 |
8 |
5.3 |
189.0 |
0 |
5 |
273 |
|
3 |
Gautam Gambhir |
258 |
0 |
21 |
84.0 |
260.2 |
0 |
- |
0.0 |
0 |
5 |
260 |
|
4 |
Suresh Raina |
174 |
3 |
13 |
118.4 |
225.5 |
0 |
6.0 |
-2.0 |
25 |
5 |
249 |
|
5 |
Virender Sehwag |
148 |
0 |
18 |
100.7 |
173.5 |
1 |
4.7 |
29.0 |
0 |
4 |
203 |
|
6 |
Manoj Tiwary |
86 |
0 |
8 |
81.1 |
83.7 |
4 |
6.8 |
80.0 |
25 |
2 |
189 |
|
7 |
R Ashwin |
23 |
0 |
3 |
115.0 |
29.3 |
5 |
4.5 |
148.0 |
0 |
5 |
177 |
|
8 |
MS Dhoni |
135 |
2 |
14 |
102.3 |
160.0 |
0 |
- |
0.0 |
7.5 |
5 |
168 |
|
9 |
Zaheer Khan |
2 |
0 |
0 |
50.0 |
0.7 |
4 |
5.6 |
75.0 |
10 |
5 |
86 |
|
10 |
Ashok Dinda |
0 |
0 |
0 |
- |
0.0 |
4 |
6.7 |
59.3 |
0 |
3 |
59 |
|
11 |
Rahul Sharma |
0 |
0 |
0 |
- |
0.0 |
1 |
5.6 |
20.0 |
0 |
1 |
20 |
|
12 |
Rohit Sharma |
13 |
0 |
1 |
35.1 |
-4.8 |
0 |
3.7 |
12.0 |
0 |
5 |
7 |
|
13 |
Ajinkya Rahane |
9 |
0 |
1 |
52.9 |
3.8 |
0 |
- |
0.0 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
|
14 |
Umesh Yadav |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.0 |
-2.5 |
2 |
8.1 |
6.0 |
0 |
2 |
4 |
|
15 |
Pragyan Ojha |
5 |
0 |
0 |
27.8 |
-5.0 |
1 |
7.5 |
8.2 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
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.
This list is beginning to look quite different with Kohli and Gautam Gambhir emerging as India's two most reliable batsmen, and Raina being somewhere there, but still not quite there. One notices that Virender Sehwag is dropping down the list somewhat, as indeed is Zaheer Khan. Yuvraj Singh is missing too.
But the most striking difference is that we don't see the name of the world's greatest ODI cricketer of all time. The old order changeth.