Although the Indian captain M S Dhoni [Images] performs well in all three forms of cricket, he seems best equipped to play ODI cricket. In ODI cricket, a strike rate just below 100 - which is the rate Dhoni is now most comfortable with - is considered excellent. Also the 50 overs allow the calm captain sufficient leverage to swing close matches his team's way.
Dhoni emerged as the most valuable player in the West Indies-India ODI series that had a wet end last night. Yuvraj Singh [Images] is just behind him. Table 1 ranks all the players who played in the series.
Table 1: The most valuable players in the West Indies [Images] - India ODI series (4 matches played; 3 completed)
| Player | Team | Runs | Six | Four | Strike Rate | Bat Pts | W | Eco | Bowl Pts | Field Pts | M | MVPI | Age |
| MS Dhoni | IND | 182 | 4 | 10 | 86.7 | 189.0 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 55 | 4 | 244 | 28 |
| Yuvraj Singh | IND | 168 | 8 | 15 | 119.1 | 218.5 | 0 | 8.8 | -23.0 | 0 | 4 | 196 | 27 |
| Chris Gayle [Images] | WI | 128 | 3 | 19 | 134.7 | 176.8 | 0 | 6.5 | -12.0 | 10 | 4 | 175 | 29 |
| Dwayne Bravo [Images] | WI | 22 | 0 | 1 | 55.0 | 10.7 | 6 | 5.2 | 146.0 | 10 | 4 | 167 | 25 |
| Runako Morton | WI | 161 | 2 | 11 | 77.0 | 147.8 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 5 | 4 | 153 | 31 |
| Ramnaresh Sarwan [Images] | WI | 134 | 4 | 7 | 95.7 | 151.3 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 0 | 4 | 151 | 29 |
| Ashish Nehra [Images] | IND | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | -2.5 | 6 | 5.8 | 133.3 | 5 | 4 | 136 | 30 |
| Ravi Rampaul | WI | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 4 | 4.5 | 107.0 | 25 | 3 | 132 | 24 |
| Dinesh Karthik [Images] | IND | 118 | 2 | 11 | 94.4 | 131.8 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 0 | 4 | 132 | 24 |
| Denesh Ramdin [Images] | WI | 43 | 2 | 2 | 134.4 | 59.3 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 70 | 4 | 129 | 24 |
| Rohit Sharma [Images] | IND | 15 | 0 | 0 | 65.2 | 10.8 | 3 | 3.8 | 86.0 | 22.5 | 4 | 119 | 22 |
| Yusuf Pathan [Images] | IND | 41 | 2 | 2 | 83.7 | 41.2 | 4 | 7.1 | 71.0 | 0 | 4 | 112 | 26 |
| Harbhajan Singh [Images] | IND | 28 | 2 | 0 | 103.7 | 33.5 | 3 | 5.9 | 54.8 | 10 | 4 | 98 | 29 |
| Shivnarine Chanderpaul [Images] | WI | 96 | 3 | 5 | 84.2 | 97.0 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 0 | 4 | 97 | 34 |
| Jerome Taylor [Images] | WI | 22 | 0 | 4 | 129.4 | 29.8 | 4 | 6.4 | 66.8 | 0 | 4 | 97 | 25 |
| Gautam Gambhir [Images] | IND | 57 | 1 | 2 | 105.6 | 69.0 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 17.5 | 4 | 87 | 27 |
| Sulieman Benn | WI | 7 | 0 | 1 | 116.7 | 9.0 | 2 | 4.7 | 57.0 | 5 | 3 | 71 | 28 |
| Darren Bravo | WI | 40 | 0 | 5 | 129.0 | 54.2 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 5 | 4 | 59 | 20 |
| David Bernard | WI | 19 | 0 | 1 | 95.0 | 21.3 | 2 | 6.0 | 32.0 | 5 | 4 | 58 | 28 |
| Ishant Sharma [Images] | IND | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 2 | 6.4 | 30.0 | 5 | 3 | 35 | 20 |
| Ravindra Jadeja [Images] | IND | 7 | 0 | 1 | 53.8 | 3.2 | 0 | 5.1 | -1.0 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 20 |
| Lionel Baker | WI | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | -1.7 | 1 | 6.9 | 8.0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 24 |
| S Badrinath | IND | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 |
| Abhishek Nayar [Images] | IND | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 25 |
| Pragyan Ojha [Images] | IND | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 |
| Murali Vijay | IND | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 |
| Narsingh Deonarine | WI | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 |
| Praveen Kumar [Images] | IND | 1 | 0 | 0 | 20.0 | -2.2 | 0 | 5.3 | -2.0 | 0 | 1 | -4 | 22 |
| RP Singh [Images] | IND | 23 | 1 | 1 | 30.7 | -16.5 | 1 | 6.2 | 7.0 | 5 | 4 | -5 | 23 |
Runs (scored) | Sixes | Fours | Strike rate | Bat-pts: Batting points | W: Wickets taken | Eco: Economy rate | Bowl-pts: Bowling points | Field-pts: fielding points | M: Matches played | MVPI: Most valuable player index = sum of batting, bowling and fielding points | Age | *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. We will also list India's most valuable players right through the new (2009-10) ODI season. Currently, Dhoni is India's most valuable player (see Table 2), but, as the season advances, he should face greater competition from Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag [Images] (the MVP of the 2008-09 season), Sachin Tendulkar [Images] (MVP of the 2007-08 season) and perhaps even Rahul Dravid [Images]!
Table 2: India's most valuable players in the 2009-10 ODI season (4 matches so far)
| Player | Runs | Six | Four | Strike Rate | Bat Pts | W | Eco | Bowl Pts | Field Pts | M | MVPI | Age |
| MS Dhoni | 182 | 4 | 10 | 86.7 | 189.0 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 55 | 4 | 244 | 28 |
| Yuvraj Singh | 168 | 8 | 15 | 119.1 | 218.5 | 0 | 8.8 | -23.0 | 0 | 4 | 196 | 27 |
| Ashish Nehra | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | -2.5 | 6 | 5.8 | 133.3 | 5 | 4 | 136 | 30 |
| Dinesh Karthik | 118 | 2 | 11 | 94.4 | 131.8 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 0 | 4 | 132 | 24 |
| Rohit Sharma | 15 | 0 | 0 | 65.2 | 10.8 | 3 | 3.8 | 86.0 | 22.5 | 4 | 119 | 22 |
| Yusuf Pathan | 41 | 2 | 2 | 83.7 | 41.2 | 4 | 7.1 | 71.0 | 0 | 4 | 112 | 26 |
| Harbhajan Singh | 28 | 2 | 0 | 103.7 | 33.5 | 3 | 5.9 | 54.8 | 10 | 4 | 98 | 29 |
| Gautam Gambhir | 57 | 1 | 2 | 105.6 | 69.0 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 17.5 | 4 | 87 | 27 |
| Ishant Sharma | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 2 | 6.4 | 30.0 | 5 | 3 | 35 | 20 |
| Ravindra Jadeja | 7 | 0 | 1 | 53.8 | 3.2 | 0 | 5.1 | -1.0 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 20 |
| S Badrinath | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 |
| Abhishek Nayar | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 25 |
| Pragyan Ojha | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 |
| Murali Vijay | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 0 | -- | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 |
| Praveen Kumar | 1 | 0 | 0 | 20.0 | -2.2 | 0 | 5.3 | -2.0 | 0 | 1 | -4 | 22 |
| RP Singh | 23 | 1 | 1 | 30.7 | -16.5 | 1 | 6.2 | 7.0 | 5 | 4 | -5 | 23 |
Runs (scored) | Sixes | Fours | Strike rate | Bat-pts: Batting points | W: Wickets taken | Eco: Economy rate | Bowl-pts: Bowling points | Field-pts: fielding points | M: Matches played | MVPI: Most valuable player index = sum of batting, bowling and fielding points | Age | *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.
