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Could top 15 be India's World Cup team?

Last updated on: February 11, 2019 09:01 IST

Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji identify India's Most Valuable ODI Players during the 2018-2019 season that has so far featured 22 games.

IMAGE: Rohit Sharma looks on during the T20 series against New Zealand, Westpac Stadium, Wellington. Photograph: Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images

Rohit Sharma (MVPI: 1459) tops the list, but Virat Kohli (MVPI: 1161) would very likely have been ahead if he had played as many matches as Rohit.

Both the wrist spinners figure in the top 5. Kuldeep Yadav enjoys a marginal edge (more wickets, lower economy rate) over Yuzvendra Chahal.

IMAGE: Virat Kohli walk out for game two of the ODI series at the Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui, New Zealand, January 26, 2019. Photograph: Hannah Peters/Getty Images

Rohit hit as many as 46 sixes. The next best isn't Virat or Shikhar Dhawan -- it is Ambati Rayadu (17 sixes)!

Most Valuable Indian ODI Players in the 2018-2019 season (22 matches so far)

RankPlayer NameRuns4s6sStrike RateWicketsEconomy RateGamesMVPI
1 Rohit Sharma 1,214 111 46 95.4 1 0 21 1459
2 Virat Kohli 945 91 10 97.3 0 0 14 1161
3 Kuldeep Yadav 55 2 0 53.9 38 4.7 19 1150
4 Shikhar Dhawan 817 108 10 89.7 0 0 21 946
5 Yuzvendra Chahal 33 5 0 60 28 4.9 17 886
6 Bhuvneshwar Kumar 97 7 1 67.4 24 5 17 756
7 Ambati Rayudu 606 51 17 86.4 0 6 18 688
8 Ravindra Jadeja 76 3 0 77.6 16 4.8 11 616
9 M S Dhoni 448 28 5 74.3 0 0 20 600
10 Kedar Jadhav 204 19 3 99 9 4.6 14 578
11 Jasprit Bumrah 0 0 0 0 14 3.4 7 514
12 Mohammed Shami 2 0 0 50 17 5.5 9 415
13 Khaleel Ahmed 9 1 0 52.9 11 5.4 8 297
14 Dinesh Karthik 242 20 3 79.9 0 0 12 272
15 Hardik Pandya 103 9 5 121.2 5 6 7 248
16 Lokesh Rahul 69 5 1 80.2 0 0 3 71
17 Rishabh Pant 41 5 1 132.3 0 0 3 71
18 Suresh Raina 47 1 0 70.1 0 6 3 54
19 Vijay Shankar 45 4 0 70.3 0 4.9 4 49
20 Shardul Thakur 22 0 2 137.5 1 6.6 2 44
21 Umesh Yadav 0 0 0 0 4 6.9 4 33
22 Deepak Chahar 12 1 0 85.7 1 9.3 1 31
23 Manish Pandey 8 0 0 53.3 0 0 1 14
24 Shubman Gill 16 2 0 50 0 0 2 5
25 Siddarth Kaul 1 0 0 33.3 0 6.6 3 -21
26 Mohammed Siraj 0 0 0 0 0 7.6 1 -26

MVPI 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.

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