Australia (69.98) returned to the top of the Rediff ODI rankings in emphatic fashion after retaining the recently-concluded ICC Champions Trophy. India (61.27) and South Africa (57.89) crashed dramatically after failing to reach the semi-finals, but still hold on to the second and third places.
Even though Yuvraj Singh didn't seem to be quite himself -- at least till that innings in the Compaq Cup tri-series final -- he is still India's most valuable ODI player in the ongoing 2009-10 season. If Yuvraj doesn't bat well, he ends up bowling rather well. So this way or that he always brings great value.
As we go into the Champions Trophy in South Africa, both India (69.53) and South Africa (69.97) are vying for the top place in the Rediff ODI Rankings. England (43.90) and New Zealand (50.08) are the big losers with bad losses in the NatWest Series and the Compaq Cup respectively.
Sri Lanka are deriving a significant benefit because of three things: (a) Sri Lanka play Test series with relatively fewer matches, (b) they have lately played a lot of cricket at home and (c) they have only encountered weak away opposition recently.
After the bad 2-0 series loss in Sri Lanka (46.23), Pakistan (37.40) dropped badly in the Rediff Test Rankings.
India (68.56), however, continue to top the Rediff ODI Rankings, with South Africa (64.66) and Australia (62.35) behind. India's acid test will be the Champions Trophy next month in South Africa.
Although the Indian captain M S Dhoni 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.
It was always going to be a toss-up between Tillakaratne Dilshan and Shahid Afridi. Dilshan's duck, and another brilliant all-round performance by Afridi, tilted the scales in favour of the phenomenally talented player from Pakistan.
If England isn't in the ICC World Twenty20 semi-final, it's, to a large extent, because of the flaws in the Duckworth-Lewis method devised by two Englishmen.
You have to search really hard to find names of Indian players in the list of the "most valuable players" so far in the ICC World Twenty20. Yuvraj Singh is at the sixth position... but then there's practically no one else! After you run your finger down the list for quite a while you'll run into Pragyan Ojha at No. 22, Yusuf Pathan at No. 24 and Rohit Sharma at No. 25.
Adam Gilchrist is IPL 2009's most valuable player. If his batting, bowling and fielding performance is expressed only in terms of 'runs', he is seen to have scored a staggering 753 runs. And we haven't taken into account his phenomenal captaincy skills!
Shane Watson was the most valuable player of IPL 2008. Who will it be this time? Any of the top five ranked players has a chance, with Suresh Raina being the current favourite.
It's interesting to compare IPL performances in 2008 and 2009, and rediff.com's paisa vasool index allows us to make objective comparisons.
IPL's second season will end soon. We still have 6 matches to go, and we'll surely see a few more outstanding individual performances. But the 'top 10' or 'top 20' list of this IPL's top performers is now unlikely to change.
After the first 43 matches of IPL's second season, Matthew Hayden already looks poised to become this year's most valuable player, especially because Chennai Super Kings seem quite certain of entering the semi-finals. Only an injury can halt Hayden's successful march.
Among top players from different countries playing in the IPL second season, it turns out that English players cost the most, but contributed the least.
The most valuable player index (MVPI) is computed by adding up every player's batting, bowling and fielding points -- expressed as a run equivalent.
The IPL pricing so far has been extremely irrational, and one expects franchise owners to correct this in subsequent years.
Four among IPL's five best players are coming in relatively 'fresh' and only AB de Villiers among them has had a full cricket season. Lasith Malinga is returning from injury, and Irfan Pathan isn't a regular in India's playing eleven in ODIs and Tests.
Here is a list of cricketers who are not offering value for money so far in the second season of the Indian Premier League. We must note, however, that a couple of good knocks or good spells can quickly change numbers.
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