Sachin Tendulkar's [Images] wonderful run in the 2007-08 ODI season continues. As the Commonwealth Bank Series gets underway, he is comfortably ahead of Yuvraj Singh [Images]. In fact if Yuvraj's woeful form continues he will soon lose even his second place to Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni [Images].
Recall that players get the most batting points if they score a lot of runs - and score them quickly; the most bowling points if they take a lot of wickets - and bowl economically; and the most fielding points if they take a lot of catches or participate in the largest number of run outs. The player with the largest total of batting, bowling and fielding points is called the "most valuable (ODI) player".
This scheme usually favours all-rounders; also the more matches you play, the more points you can amass. But our experience suggests that it spots the most valuable players rather well; players with the best ranks usually go on to win the most 'man of the match' or 'man of the series' awards.
Table 1: India's most valuable players of the 2007-08 season (30 matches so far) Rank | Player | Runs | Balls | Bat-pts | Rc | Bb | W | Bowl-pts | Ct|St | Run outs | Field-pts | M | Total |
1 | Sachin Tendulkar | 1236 | 1505 | 1268 | 268 | 258 | 5 | 58.4 | 7 | 0.5 | 47 | 27 | 1373 |
2 | Yuvraj Singh | 942 | 1142 | 970.4 | 476 | 483 | 11 | 174 | 7 | 2.5 | 95 | 29 | 1240 |
3 | Mahendra Singh Dhoni | 850 | 1076 | 839.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25|12 | 4.5 | 353 | 28 | 1192 |
4 | Gautam Gambhir [Images] | 760 | 985 | 732 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 22 | 742 |
5 | Sourav Ganguly [Images] | 611 | 850 | 542 | 300 | 348 | 5 | 98.4 | 1 | 1 | 29 | 20 | 669 |
6 | Zaheer Khan [Images] | 148 | 208 | 129.6 | 1000 | 1160 | 22 | 456 | 2 | 2.5 | 70 | 22 | 656 |
7 | R P Singh | 26 | 55 | 8 | 788 | 885 | 24 | 496 | 2 | 2 | 58 | 18 | 562 |
8 | Rahul Dravid [Images] | 462 | 554 | 480.8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0.5 | 62 | 20 | 543 |
9 | Robin Uthappa | 327 | 322 | 396.4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 78 | 18 | 474 |
10 | Piyush Chawla | 20 | 34 | 12.8 | 538 | 666 | 17 | 403 | 8 | 0.5 | 52 | 13 | 468 |
11 | Harbhajan Singh [Images] | 128 | 138 | 145.6 | 473 | 636 | 9 | 252 | 5 | 0 | 25 | 14 | 422 |
12 | Irfan Pathan [Images] | 170 | 246 | 143.2 | 631 | 695 | 14 | 261 | 3 | 0 | 15 | 16 | 419 |
13 | S Sreesanth [Images] | 22 | 56 | -0.8 | 456 | 458 | 20 | 390 | 3 | 0 | 15 | 11 | 405 |
14 | Ramesh Powar [Images] | 46 | 78 | 29.6 | 528 | 668 | 10 | 246 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 13 | 286 |
15 | Murali Kartik [Images] | 37 | 48 | 35.6 | 300 | 377 | 10 | 242 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 277 |
16 | Dinesh Karthik [Images] | 180 | 217 | 186.4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12|1 | 0.5 | 82 | 13 | 268 |
17 | Ajit Agarkar [Images] | 19 | 38 | 7.6 | 415 | 414 | 12 | 204 | 2 | 0.5 | 22 | 8 | 234 |
18 | Virender Sehwag [Images] | 193 | 224 | 206.8 | 121 | 126 | 1 | 3.8 | 3 | 0 | 15 | 9 | 226 |
19 | Rohit Sharma | 199 | 244 | 202.8 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 1.8 | 4 | 0 | 20 | 8 | 225 |
20 | Ishant Sharma | 1 | 1 | 1.2 | 109 | 133 | 6 | 141 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 148 |
21 | Munaf Patel [Images] | 1 | 3 | -0.4 | 208 | 216 | 6 | 109 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 113 |
22 | Dinesh Mongia | 34 | 41 | 35.2 | 106 | 108 | 3 | 52.4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 87.6 |
23 | Praveen Kumar | 12 | 13 | 13.6 | 50 | 60 | 0 | -2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11.6 |
24 | Manoj Tiwari | 0 | 16 | -12.8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -12.8 |
Runs (scored) | Balls (taken) | Bat-pts: Batting points | | Rc: Runs conceded | Bb: Balls bowled | W: Wickets taken | 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. The next table lists the most valuable players so far in the ongoing Australia-India-Sri Lanka tri-series. Since India has featured in four of the five matches played so far, Indian players are currently more highly ranked. But things will even out as the series progresses.
Table 2: The most valuable players so far in the Commonwealth Bank series (5 matches so far)
Rank | Player | Country | Runs | Balls | Bat-pts | Rc | Bb | W | Bowl-pts | Ct|St | Run outs | Field-pts | M | Total |
1 | Gautam Gambhir | Ind | 197 | 228 | 211.6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 211.6 |
2 | Brett Lee [Images] | Aus | 10 | 37 | -9.6 | 103 | 150 | 7 | 185 | 2 | 12 | 22 | 3 | 197.4 |
3 | Mahendra Singh Dhoni | Ind | 173 | 236 | 157.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6|1 | 0 | 40 | 4 | 197.2 |
4 | Nathan Bracken [Images] | Aus | 1 | 9 | -5.2 | 137 | 165 | 7 | 163 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 157.8 |
5 | Ishant Sharma | Ind | 1 | 1 | 1.2 | 71 | 91 | 6 | 145.8 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 152 |
6 | Rohit Sharma | Ind | 138 | 170 | 140 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 145 |
7 | Mitchell Johnson | Aus | 3 | 8 | -0.4 | 66 | 144 | 4 | 145.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 144.8 |
8 | Sachin Tendulkar | Ind | 121 | 153 | 119.6 | 21 | 24 | 0 | -1.8 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 4 | 127.8 |
9 | TM Dilshan | SL | 76 | 69 | 96.8 | 8 | 6 | 0 | -3.2 | 2 | 12 | 22 | 3 | 115.6 |
10 | Harbhajan Singh | Ind | 27 | 19 | 38.8 | 34 | 72 | 2 | 71.6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 110.4 |
11 | Michael Clarke [Images] | Aus | 90 | 121 | 83.2 | 17 | 36 | 0 | 11.8 | 3 | 0 | 15 | 3 | 110 |
12 | S Sreesanth | Ind | 4 | 3 | 5.6 | 96 | 92 | 5 | 97.6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 103.2 |
13 | James Hopes | Aus | 51 | 41 | 69.2 | 32 | 66 | 0 | 20.8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 90 |
14 | Adam Gilchrist [Images] | Aus | 75 | 101 | 69.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4|0 | 0 | 20 | 3 | 89.2 |
15 | Michael Hussey | Aus | 75 | 101 | 69.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 17 | 3 | 86.2 |
16 | KC Sangakkara | SL | 52 | 51 | 63.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2|0 | 12 | 22 | 3 | 85.2 |
17 | Mathew Hayden | Aus | 67 | 71 | 77.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 82.2 |
18 | MKDI Amerasinghe | SL | 0 | 4 | -3.2 | 96 | 120 | 3 | 72 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 68.8 |
19 | Virender Sehwag | Ind | 64 | 84 | 60.8 | 38 | 42 | 0 | -4.4 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 61.4 |
20 | M Muralitharan | SL | 11 | 14 | 10.8 | 129 | 150 | 2 | 39 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 3 | 59.8 |
21 | Irfan Pathan | Ind | 39 | 70 | 22 | 79 | 84 | 2 | 36.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 58.2 |
22 | DPMD Jayawardene | SL | 42 | 51 | 43.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 15 | 3 | 58.2 |
23 | SL Malinga | SL | 2 | 10 | -4 | 156 | 162 | 3 | 45.6 | 0 | 12 | 12 | 3 | 53.6 |
24 | Andrew Symonds [Images] | Aus | 31 | 47 | 24.4 | 23 | 23 | 0 | -4.6 | 1 | 24 | 29 | 3 | 48.8 |
25 | Stuart Clark | Aus | 0 | 1 | -0.8 | 26 | 60 | 1 | 46 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 45.2 |
26 | WPUJC Vaas | SL | 18 | 30 | 12 | 145 | 156 | 2 | 27.8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 39.8 |
27 | CK Kapugedera | SL | 0 | 2 | -1.6 | 77 | 96 | 1 | 23.8 | 1 | 12 | 17 | 3 | 39.2 |
28 | ST Jayasuriya | SL | 34 | 26 | 47.2 | 24 | 18 | 0 | -9.6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 37.6 |
29 | Brad Hogg [Images] | Aus | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 36 | 1 | 35.8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 35.8 |
30 | Ricky Ponting [Images] | Aus | 18 | 39 | 4.8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 24 | 29 | 3 | 33.8 |
31 | Ashley Noffke | Aus | 0 | 0 | 0 | 46 | 54 | 1 | 21.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 21.2 |
32 | KMDN Kulasekara | SL | 0 | 0 | 0 | 41 | 36 | 1 | 11.8 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 16.8 |
33 | MF Maharoof | SL | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 30 | 1 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 12 |
34 | WU Tharanga | SL | 10 | 18 | 5.6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5.6 |
35 | Robin Uthappa | Ind | 5 | 13 | -0.4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 4.6 |
36 | Yuvraj Singh | Ind | 11 | 28 | -0.4 | 11 | 12 | 0 | -1.4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | -1.8 |
37 | LPC Silva | SL | 7 | 32 | -11.6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | -11.6 |
38 | Manoj Tiwari | Ind | | 16 | -12.8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -12.8 |
39 | Brad Haddin | Aus | 5 | 31 | -14.8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -14.8 |
Runs (scored) | Balls (taken) | Bat-pts: Batting points | | Rc: Runs conceded | Bb: Balls bowled | W: Wickets taken | 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
Srinivas Bhogle and Debasish Ghosh work for Cranes Software International [Get Quote] Limited, Bangalore.
Complete coverage: India's tour of Australia 2007