After his knock of 76 in 70 balls at Adelaide, Yuvraj Singh [ Images ] (rank 2) has now reduced the gap between him and Sachin Tendulkar [ Images ] (rank 1) in the race to be this season's most valuable Indian ODI player. Mahendra Singh Dhoni [ Images ] (rank 3), with his calm batting and good wicket-keeping, is just behind the top two.

Gautam Gambhir [ Images ] (4) and Irfan Pathan [ Images ] (7) are climbing steadily. Robin Uthappa [ Images ] (10), who has done nothing worthwhile in his Australian outings, is still in the top 10 because of a strong early season performance.

Table 1: India's [ Images ] most valuable players of the 2007-08 season (32 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	1241	1522	1264.4	268	258	5	58.4	7	0.5	47	29	1369.8
2	Yuvraj Singh	1044	1256	1083.2	503	513	11	171.4	7	2.5	95	31	1349.6
3	M S Dhoni	937	1194	918.8	0	0	0	0	29|13	5	395	30	1313.8
4	Gautam Gambhir	809	1061	769.2	0	0	0	0	2	0	10	24	779.2
5	Sourav Ganguly [ Images ]	611	850	542	300	348	5	98.4	1	1	29	20	669.4
6	Zaheer Khan [ Images ]	148	208	129.6	1000	1160	22	456	2	2.5	70	22	655.6
7	Irfan Pathan	215	317	176.4	716	815	19	392	3	0	15	18	583.4
8	R P Singh	26	55	8	788	885	24	496	2	2	58	18	562
9	Rahul Dravid [ Images ]	462	554	480.8	0	0	0	0	10	0.5	62	20	542.8
10	Robin Uthappa	355	386	401.2	0	0	0	0	8	2	88	20	489.2
11	Harbhajan Singh [ Images ]	135	150	150	567	756	11	301.8	5	0.5	37	16	488.8
12	Piyush Chawla [ Images ]	20	34	12.8	538	666	17	402.8	8	0.5	52	13	467.6
13	S Sreesanth [ Images ]	23	60	-2	491	506	20	393.8	3	0	15	12	406.8
14	Ramesh Powar [ Images ]	46	78	29.6	528	668	10	246.4	2	0	10	13	286
15	Murali Kartik [ Images ]	37	48	35.6	300	377	10	241.6	0	0	0	7	277.2
16	Rohit Sharma [ Images ]	224	283	221.6	3	6	0	1.8	5	1	49	10	272.4
17	Dinesh Karthik [ Images ]	180	217	186.4	0	0	0	0	12|1	0.5	82	13	268.4
18	Ajit Agarkar [ Images ]	19	38	7.6	415	414	12	204.2	2	0.5	22	8	233.8
19	Virender Sehwag [ Images ]	193	224	206.8	121	126	1	3.8	3	0	15	9	225.6
20	Ishant Sharma [ Images ]	3	13	-4.4	185	247	8	204.6	2	0	10	7	210.2
21	Munaf Patel [ Images ]	1	12	-7.6	277	324	8	174.2	1	1	29	7	195.6
22	Dinesh Mongia	34	41	35.2	106	108	3	52.4	0	0	0	2	87.6
23	Praveen Kumar [ Images ]	18	21	19.2	99	120	0	-3	1	1	29	2	45.2
24	Manoj Tiwari		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.

Three wicket-keepers and two left-arm pace men are currently the five best performers in the Commonwealth Bank Australia-India-Sri Lanka tri-series. Mitchell Johnson [ Images ] has 10 wickets to Nathan Bracken's [ Images ] 12; but he's ahead because of a better economy rate and marginally better batting.

Table 2: The most valuable players so far in the Commonwealth Bank series (8 matches so far)

Rank	Player	Country	Runs	Balls	Bat-pts	Rc	Bb	W	Bowl-pts	Ct|St	Run outs	Field-pts	M	Total
1	Mitchell Johnson	Aus	12	22	6.4	137	264	10	314.2	0	0	0	5	320.6
2	Mahendra Singh Dhoni	Ind	260	354	236.8	0	0	0	0	10|2	0.5	82	6	318.8
3	KC Sangakkara	SL	260	320	264	0	0	0	0	4|1	0.5	42	5	306
4	Nathan Bracken	Aus	2	17	-9.6	179	257	12	314.6	0	0	0	5	305
5	Adam Gilchrist [ Images ]	Aus	208	250	216	0	0	0	0	9|1	0	55	5	271
6	Gautam Gambhir	Ind	246	304	248.8	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	248.8
7	Irfan Pathan	Ind	84	141	55.2	164	204	7	167.2	0	0	0	6	222.4
8	James Hopes [ Images ]	Aus	72	64	92.8	74	156	3	122.8	1	0	5	4	220.6
9	Ishant Sharma	Ind	3	13	-4.4	147	205	8	209	2	0	10	6	214.6
10	Brett Lee [ Images ]	Aus	12	43	-10.4	152	201	8	200.8	2	0.5	22	4	212.4
11	Michael Clarke [ Images ]	Aus	212	298	185.6	17	36	0	11.8	3	0	15	5	212.4
12	SL Malinga	SL	7	28	-8.4	240	280	9	200	0	0.5	12	5	203.6
13	Rohit Sharma	Ind	163	209	158.8	0	0	0	0	2	1	34	6	192.8
14	Harbhajan Singh	Ind	34	31	43.2	128	192	4	121.6	0	0.5	12	6	176.8
15	Brad Hogg [ Images ]	Aus	37	62	24.4	88	144	5	147.2	0	0	0	3	171.6
16	DPMD Jayawardene	SL	134	175	128	0	0	0	0	6	0	30	5	158
17	MKDI Amerasinghe	SL	11	17	8.4	145	180	6	143	0	0	0	4	151.4
18	TM Dilshan	SL	80	73	101.6	19	12	0	-9.4	2	1.5	46	4	138.2
19	Sachin Tendulkar	Ind	126	170	116	21	24	0	-1.8	2	0	10	6	124.2
20	WPUJC Vaas	SL	19	32	12.4	207	276	4	109.8	0	0	0	5	122.2
21	M Muralitharan [ Images ]	SL	11	14	10.8	220	270	4	92	2	0	10	5	112.8
22	Michael Hussey [ Images ]	Aus	105	150	90	0	0	0	0	2	0.5	22	5	112
23	Mathew Hayden	Aus	84	116	75.2	0	0	0	0	2	1	34	4	109.2
24	Yuvraj Singh	Ind	113	142	112.4	38	42	0	-4.4	0	0	0	5	108
25	S Sreesanth	Ind	5	7	4.4	131	140	5	101	0	0	0	5	105.4
26	Ricky Ponting [ Images ]	Aus	53	78	43.6	0	0	0	0	3	1	39	5	82.6
27	Munaf Patel	Ind	0	9	-7.2	69	108	2	65.4	0	1	24	2	82.2
28	ST Jayasuriya	SL	46	39	60.8	38	30	0	-14	1	1	29	5	75.8
29	Stuart Clark	Aus	8	10	8	59	108	1	51.4	1	0	5	2	64.4
30	Virender Sehwag	Ind	64	84	60.8	38	42	0	-4.4	1	0	5	4	61.4
31	Andrew Symonds [ Images ]	Aus	38	67	22.4	32	35	0	-4	3	1	39	5	57.4
32	KMDN Kulasekara [ Images ]	SL	0	7	-5.6	93	96	3	55.8	1	0	5	2	55.2
33	CK Kapugedera	SL	27	67	0.4	77	96	1	23.8	2	0.5	22	5	46.2
34	Praveen Kumar	Ind	6	8	5.6	49	60	0	-1	1	1	29	1	33.6
35	MF Maharoof	SL	10	20	4	132	127	2	17.6	1	0	5	3	26.6
36	Ashley Noffke	Aus	0	0	0	46	54	1	21.2	0	0	0	1	21.2
37	Robin Uthappa	SL	33	77	4.4	0	0	0	0	3	0	15	6	19.4
38	WU Tharanga	SL	10	18	5.6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	5.6
39	LPC Silva	SL	28	72	-1.6	0	0	0	0	1	0	5	5	3.4
40	Brad Haddin [ Images ]	Aus	5	31	-14.8	0	0	0	0	1	0	5	2	-9.8
41	Manoj Tiwari	Ind		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

 

Srinivas Bhogle and Debasish Ghosh work for Cranes Software International [ Get Quote ] Limited, Bangalore.