Rohit Sharma, who hit 441 runs in five matches with two centuries, is the MVP of the ODI series against Australia, ahead of Virat Kohli and Steve Smith.
Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji present Rediff.com's Most Valuable Players ratings.
There were plenty of runs in the Australia-India ODI series, but not enough wickets.
World champions Australia registered a convincing 4-1 victory in the five-match ODI series not only because they batted deeper, and with slightly greater striking power, but also because they were better with the ball too.
It is therefore no surprise that batsmen have grabbed the top six places on the MVPI list, with Rohit Sharma -- who was adjudged the Man of the Series -- being the most valuable player with a MVPI of 537.
The Mumbai batsman hit two centuries plus a 99 in five matches and finished as the highest run-getter in the series with 441 runs at a whopping average of 110.
Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan are the only other Indians in the top 10 of the MVPI list, while captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who struggled with the bat and scored just 86 runs in the series, is a lowly 15th.
The MVPI formula picks out batsmen who score a lot of runs at a high strike rate, bowlers who take a lot of wickets at a low economy rate, and fielders who take the most catches or participate in run outs.
The MVPI expresses a player's overall batting + bowling + fielding performance in terms of a 'run equivalent'.
Table 1: Most valuable players in the Australia - India series (January 12 to -23, 2016):
Runs (scored) ' No of 4s ' No of 6s ' 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.
Rohit's proficient run scoring also makes him India's most valuable ODI player in the ongoing 2015-2016 season. A matter of concern is that the top five players on the India MVPI list are all batsmen.
India needs its bowlers to perform much better if it is to be among the top teams in One-Day Internationals.
Dhoni must be a worried man as the Indian ODI team has finished on the losing side in their last three series -- against Bangladesh, South Africa and Australia respectively.
Table 2: Most Valuable India players in the 2015-2016 season (16 matches so far)
Runs (scored) ' No of 4s ' No of 6s ' 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.
