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If it was not for Pandya...

Last updated on: December 03, 2020 14:04 IST

Purnendu Maji and Srinivas Bhogle list the Most Valuable Players during the India-Australia ODI series.

IMAGE: Hardik Pandya hit his highest ODI score -- 92 -- during the 3rd ODI in Canberra, December 2, 2020. Photograph: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

With two consecutive centuries, and among the fastest ever scored in ODI cricket, it isn't a surprise that Steve Smith is the Most Valuable Player of the Australia-India ODI series.

Smith has a MVPI of 302, which means that he contributed a 'run equivalent' of 302 to his Australian team.

Recall that the Most Valuable Player Index (MVPI) collapses the player's batting, bowling and fielding performance into a single 'run equivalent'.

Glenn Maxwell with an explosive strike rate of nearly 200, and also a wicket, is second with an MVPI of 277.

Hardik Pandya (MVPI of 267) is the only one Indian in the top five.

There are only 4 Indians in the top ten, which suggests that it was very much Australia's ODI series (a 3-0 was on the cards till Jasprit Bumrah dismissed Maxwell in the third ODI on Wednesday).

For India there was not much else to be happy about.

Virat Kohli (180) got two half-centuries, which is below par for the world's best ODI batsman, and while Ravindra Jadeja batted better than usual, he didn't bowl quite as well.

Bumrah bowled more like himself in the final game, but Yuzvendra Chahal (MVPI of -14) didn't even look like a shadow of his real self.

Steve Smith

IMAGE: Steve Smith celebrates his century during the first ODI in Sydney, November 27, 2020. Photograph: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images

Most Valuable Players of the Australia-India series

RankPlayerTeamMVPITop ScoreRuns4s6sStrike RateWicketsEconomy RateMatch
1 Steven Smith AUS 302 105 216 25 6 149 0 - 3
2 Glenn Maxwell AUS 277 63 167 12 11 194.2 1 7 3
3 Hardik Pandya IND 267 92 210 15 6 114.8 1 6 3
4 Adam Zampa AUS 230 4 4 0 0 57.1 7 5.4 3
5 Aaron Finch AUS 228 114 249 22 6 90.5 0 - 3
6 Josh Hazlewood AUS 186 7 7 0 0 100 6 6.2 3
7 Virat Kohli IND 180 89 173 14 3 93 0 - 3
8 Ravindra Jadeja IND 167 66 115 6 6 117.3 1 6.2 3
9 David Warner AUS 151 83 152 13 3 99.3 0 - 2
10 Lokesh Rahul IND 134 76 93 5 5 101.1 0 - 3
11 Mohammed Shami IND 121 13 14 1 1 100 4 6.9 2
12 Shikhar Dhawan IND 119 74 120 17 0 88.2 0 - 3
13 Ashton Agar AUS 109 28 28 2 0 100 2 4.4 1
14 Shardul Thakur IND 99 0 0 0 0 - 3 5.1 1
15 Jasprit Bumrah IND 97 0 0 0 0 0 4 6.6 3
16 Shreyas Iyer IND 89 38 59 7 0 100 0 - 3
17 Marnus Labuschagne AUS 87 70 79 6 0 103.9 0 - 3
18 Pat Cummins AUS 80 1 1 0 0 100 3 6.6 2
19 Alex Carey AUS 70 38 55 6 0 100 0 - 3
20 Moises Henriques AUS 58 22 24 3 0 75 1 5.1 2
21 Mayank Agarwal IND 57 28 50 6 1 113.6 0 10 2
22 T Natarajan IND 50 0 0 0 0 - 2 7 1
23 Kuldeep Yadav IND 38 0 0 0 0 - 1 5.7 1
24 Shubman Gill IND 27 33 33 3 1 84.6 0 - 1
25 Navdeep Saini IND 12 29 39 2 1 86.7 1 9 2
26 Cameron Green AUS 12 21 21 1 1 77.8 0 6.8 1
27 Marcus Stoinis AUS 12 0 0 0 0 0 0 3.9 1
28 Mitchell Starc AUS 11 0 0 0 0 - 1 8.2 2
29 Sean Abbot AUS 5 4 4 0 0 44.4 1 8.4 1
38 Yuzvendra Chahal IND -14 4 4 0 0 66.7 1 8.4 2

*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.

Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com

SRINIVAS BHOGLE and PURNENDU MAJI