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Sehwag leads MVP race

November 24, 2008 15:12 IST

India's ODI team is playing incredible cricket, with practically every player in peak form. But who are the players offering the greatest value to the team at the moment?

In One-Day Internationals, batsmen offer the best value if they score a lot of runs with good strike rates, bowlers if they take a lot of wickets at good (low) economy rates and fielders if they take the most catches or make the most run outs.

The most valuable player index (MVPI) collapses a player's all-round performance into a suitable 'run equivalent'.

Table 1, below, confirms that Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh have so far been India's most valuable players this season.

Table 1: India's most valuable players in the 2008-09 ODI season (18 matches so far):

Rank Player Runs Balls Str Rate Bat Pts Bb Rc W Eco Bowl Pts Ct St Run Outs Field Pts M MVPI
1 V Sehwag 721 568 126.9 968.7 263 250 7 5.7 144.2 4 0 20 12 1133
2 Yuvraj Singh 685 643 106.5 834.2 372 311 9 5.0 224.0 2 0 10 17 1068
3 MS Dhoni 700 803 87.2 730.8 0 0 0 - 0.0 27 4.5 247.5 18 978
4 G Gambhir 679 704 96.4 771.3 0 0 0 - 0.0 7.0 1 60 17 831
5 Suresh Raina 627 664 94.4 700.7 18 22 0 7.3 -7.0 9 2 95 18 789
6 Zaheer Khan 19 73 26.0 -22.8 458 272 15 3.6 484.7 3 0.5 27.5 9 489
7 Munaf Patel 20 18 111.1 25.0 388 275 12 4.3 348.3 1 1 30 9 403
8 H Singh 25 54 46.3 5.0 370 278 12 4.5 330.3 2 1 35 8 370
9 Irfan Pathan 105 126 83.3 105.0 460 416 10 5.4 217.3 1 0 5 9 327
10 Rohit Sharma 289 412 70.1 234.7 83 42 0 3.0 27.2 3 1.5 52.5 17 314
11 P Kumar 16 25 64.0 11.2 495 417 11 5.1 270.5 3 0.5 27.5 10 309
12 RP Singh 8 19 42.1 0.2 420 413 12 5.9 237.0 2 2 60 9 297
13 Yusuf Pathan 96 89 107.9 117.8 286 276 6 5.8 112.3 4 0.5 32.5 11 263
14 Piyush Chawla 2 7 28.6 -1.8 322 295 11 5.5 248.3 1 0 5 6 252
15 Ishant Sharma 8 19 42.1 0.2 480 486 12 6.1 214.0 3 0 15 9 229
16 Pragyan Ojha 27 46 58.7 15.7 258 173 5 4.0 167.0 3 0 15 5 198
17 Virat Kohli 159 239 66.5 118.8 0 0 0 - 0.0 3 0.5 27.5 5 146
18 M Gony 0 0 - 0.0 94 76 2 4.9 52.3 0 0 0 2 52
19 R Uthappa 37 61 60.7 23.2 0 0 0 - 0.0 0 0 0 3 23
20 S Badrinath 39 87 44.8 5.5 0 0 0 - 0.0 2 0 10 3 16
21 S Tendulkar 11 21 52.4 4.5 0 0 0 - 0.0 2 0 10 1 15

Runs (scored) | Balls (faced) | Strike rate | Bat-pts: Batting points | Bb: Balls bowled | Rc: Runs conceded | W: Wickets taken | Eco: Economy rate | 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.

Sehwag tops the list with a MVPI of 1133; this contribution is even more noteworthy because he has played in only 12 of the 18 ODI matches played so far this season. Yuvraj is second after his two electric centuries and a four-wicket haul.

Zaheer Khan is sixth because he has played in only nine ODI matches so far this season. But he should soon climb into the top five if he keeps taking wickets (15 so far) at such a remarkable economy rate (3.6 runs per over).

Sachin Tendulkar has played just one ODI match this season; but we would do well to remember that he was India's most valuable ODI player in the preceding 2007-08 season.

Yuvraj and Andrew Flintoff have been their country's most valuable players so far in the ongoing India-England ODI series. At this point of time, Yuvraj seems to be the favourite to bag the player of the series award.

Table 2: The most valuable players in the India-England ODI series (4 matches so far)

Rank Player Team Runs Balls Strike Rate Bat Pts Bb Rc W Eco Bowl Pts Ct St Run Outs Field Pts M MVPI
1 Yuvraj Singh IND 319 242 131.8 436.3 138 113 5 4.9 127.0 0 0 0 4 563
2 V Sehwag IND 223 210 106.2 271.0 90 100 4 6.7 75.0 2 0 10 4 356
3 A Flintoff ENG 114 114 100.0 133.0 198 167 4 5.1 98.0 0 0 0 4 231
4 Owais Shah ENG 170 173 98.3 195.8 0 0 0 - 0.0 2 0 10 4 206
5 G Gambhir IND 175 193 90.7 189.2 0 0 0 - 0.0 3 0 15 3 204
6 Stuart Broad ENG 48 40 120.0 62.7 210 214 6 6.1 111.0 2 0 10 4 184
7 Zaheer Khan IND 1 7 14.3 -3.8 180 128 6 4.3 172.0 3 0 15 4 183
8 Harbhajan IND 8 10 80.0 7.7 192 165 6 5.2 145.0 1 0.5 17.5 4 170
9 K Pietersen ENG 114 126 90.5 123.0 66 67 1 6.1 13.0 0 1 25 4 161
10 Munaf Patel IND 0 1 0.0 -0.8 142 109 5 4.6 134.3 0 1 25 4 159
11 MS Dhoni IND 92 114 80.7 89.0 0 0 0 - 0.0 7 1 60 4 149
12 Samit Patel ENG 85 91 93.4 94.2 120 157 3 7.9 18.0 1 1 30 4 142
13 Yusuf Pathan IND 68 48 141.7 96.0 52 83 3 9.6 35.3 0 0 0 4 131
14 Ravi Bopara ENG 118 132 89.4 126.0 0 0 0 - 0.0 0 0 0 4 126
15 Ian Bell ENG 84 100 84.0 84.7 0 0 0 - 0.0 2 0 10 4 95
16 Suresh Raina IND 48 61 78.7 45.2 0 0 0 - 0.0 2 1 35 4 80
17 G Swann ENG 10 9 111.1 12.5 72 68 3 5.7 67.0 0 0 0 2 80
18 Ishant Sharma IND 0 0 - 0.0 84 101 4 7.2 69.0 1 0 5 2 74
19 P Collingwood ENG 44 54 81.5 43.0 54 58 1 6.4 12.0 2 0 10 4 65
20 Rohit Sharma IND 42 62 67.7 32.3 0 0 0 - 0.0 0 0.5 12.5 3 45
21 S Harmison ENG 6 7 85.7 6.2 102 125 3 7.4 35.0 0 0 0 2 41
22 Matt Prior ENG 47 86 54.7 22.3 0 0 0 - 0.0 2 0 10 4 32
23 S Tendulkar IND 11 21 52.4 4.5 0 0 0 - 0.0 2 0 10 1 15

Runs (scored) | Balls (faced) | Strike rate | Bat-pts: Batting points | Bb: Balls bowled | Rc: Runs conceded | W: Wickets taken | Eco: Economy rate | 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 Purnendu Maji work for Cranes Software International Limited, Bangalore.

Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji