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MVP after game 10: Rahul Dravid

August 28, 2007 17:37 IST

After two spirited batting performances, Rahul Dravid leads the list of India's most valuable One-Day International players (MVP) in the current season.

This list considers the performance of all Indian players in the ten ODI games played after the disastrous 2007 World Cup.

Dravid finds himself at the top mainly because he has scored a lot of runs at a very good scoring rate.

Young leg-spinner Piyush Chawla, who is India's leading ODI wicket-taker, is placed third: in addition to his haul of 15 wickets, Chawla has also taken 7 catches and effected a run out dismissal.

All-rounders are normally expected to gain a lot of MVP points; that's why Yuvraj Singh, India's closest approximation to an all-rounder, is placed second. Yuvraj also benefits because he scores his runs at a fair nick.

Table 1: India's most valuable players after the 2007 World Cup

Player Runs Balls Bat-pts Rc Bb W Bowl-pts Ct|St Run outs Field-pts M Total
Rahul Dravid 382 441 411.2 5 0.5 37 10 448.2
Yuvraj Singh 278 312 306.4 196 219 6 123.2 3 15 10 444.6
Piyush Chawla 7 17 0.4 376 462 15 353.6 7 0.5 47 9 401
Sachin Tendulkar 328 424 316.8 73 60 3 47 1 - 5 7 368.8
RP Singh 12 20 8 303 408 11 287.4 0 0.5 12 8 307.4
Gautam Gambhir 295 384 282.8 1 5 7 287.8
Sourav Ganguly 259 385 210 103 138 2 55.4 1 5 7 270.4
Dinesh Karthik 174 186 199.2 9|1 55 10 254.2
MS Dhoni (w/k) 194 273 169.6 6|3 1 84 8 253.6
Zaheer Khan 40 44 44.8 288 360 6 144 0 1 24 7 212.8
Ramesh Powar 12 29 0.8 301 414 7 198.2 7 199
Ajit Agarkar 12 32 -1.6 234 264 5 97.2 2 0.5 22 5 117.6
Munaf Patel 1 3 -0.4 208 216 6 108.8 1 5 5 113.4
Virender Sehwag 51 47 64.4 46 48 1 16.4 2 10 2 90.8
Dinesh Mongia 34 41 35.2 106 108 3 52.4 2 87.6
Sreesanth 64 90 3 80 2 80
Robin Uthappa 55 62 60.4 2 10 1 70.4
Rohit Sharma 8 9 8.8 3 6 0 1.8 2 10 2 20.6
Ishant Sharma 38 42 0 -4.4 1 -4.4

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.

There were some inadvertent totaling errors in the list published after game 9 which have now been corrected. Note also that players who have played more games are more likely to find themselves at the top of the list.

If we apply the MVP calculation to the matches played in the ongoing NatWest Series, Ian Bell tops the list, followed by Dravid. Only two Indian players figure in the top ten; this isn't a surprise, England have played better.

If we only look at the most valuable players in the ongoing India-England seven-match ODI series, then the picture is as follows:

Table 2: The most valuable players so far in the India-England series

Rank Player Runs Balls Bat-pts Rc Bb W Bowl-pts Ct|St Run outs Field-pts M Total
1 I Bell 269 303 295.6 2 0.5 22 3 317.6
2 Rahul Dravid 194 196 231.2 3 15 3 246.2
3 J Anderson 111 175 8 221 3 221
4 A Cook 178 223 177.6 2 10 3 187.6
5 A Flintoff 9 7 12.4 68 102 6 157.6 2 170
6 M Prior (w/k) 86 99 92.8 7 1 59 3 151.8
7 P Collingwood 71 78 79.6 106 114 2 33.2 4 0.5 32 3 144.8
8 Yuvraj Singh 94 96 111.2 68 72 1 13.6 2 10 3 134.8
9 D Mascarenhas 52 39 72.8 59 84 1 32.2 0 0.5 12 2 117
10 S Broad 39 35 50 115 156 2 57.8 3 107.8
11 RP Singh 12 20 8 160 174 5 99.2 3 107.2
12 Sachin Tendulkar 124 164 116.8 29 24 0 -9.8 3 107
13 Sourav Ganguly 113 164 94.8 38 42 0 -4.4 3 90.4
14 Monty Panesar 96 120 2 48 0 1.5 36 2 84
15 Piyush Chawla 4 13 -2.4 152 156 4 68.8 3 15 3 81.4
16 Ramesh Powar 6 15 0 88 120 3 80 2 80
17 K Pietersen 67 72 76.4 3 76.4
18 Munaf Patel 1 3 -0.4 107 78 4 51.4 1 5 2 56
19 Dinesh Karthik 45 49 50.8 1 5 3 55.8
20 Zaheer Khan 31 40 30 98 120 1 22 2 52
21 MS Dhoni (w/k) 53 98 27.6 1|1 15 3 42.6
22 Chris Tremlett 19 10 30 130 102 2 -0.4 1 5 2 34.6
23 Owais Shah 19 15 26 1 26
24 R Bopara 27 29 30.8 39 36 0 -10.2 1 5 3 25.6
25 Gautam Gambhir 3 14 -5.2 1 -5.2
26 Ajit Agarkar 12 32 -1.6 132 114 0 -40.8 2 10 2 -32.4

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.

These lists will be updated after every one-day international game.

Srinivas Bhogle, Debasish Ghosh and K Anil Kumar work for Cranes Software International Limited, Bangalore.

Srinivas Bhogle, Debasish Ghosh and K Anil Kumar