With the seven-match India-England one-day series tragically curtailed after the fifth match, the series officially has no player of the series.
But if we look at the most valuable player index (MVPI), published by Rediff.com right through every ODI cricket season, it is easy to guess that Yuvraj Singh (with a series MVPI of 585) would have been picked for the award.
The MVPI is calculated based on the assumption that, in ODI cricket, batsmen offer the best value if they score a lot of runs with good strike rates, bowlers if they take a lot of wickets at good (low) economy rates, and fielders if they take the most catches or make the most run outs. The MVPI collapses the player's all-round performance into a single 'run equivalent'.
Virender Sehwag (477), as Table 1 shows, was the other outstanding player of ODI series that India claimed 5-0. England's top three players: Owais Shah (290), Kevin Pitersen (276) and Andrew Flintoff (231) were way behind.
Table 1: Most valuable players in the India-England ODI series
| Rank | Player | Team | Runs | Balls | Strike Rate | Bat Pts | Bb | Rc | W | Eco | Bowl Pts | Ct St | Run Outs | Field Pts | M | MVPI |
| 1 | Yuvraj Singh | IND | 325 | 251 | 129.5 | 440.8 | 198 | 151 | 5 | 4.6 | 139.0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 585 |
| 2 | V Sehwag | IND | 314 | 283 | 111.0 | 392.2 | 90 | 100 | 4 | 6.7 | 75.0 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 5 | 477 |
| 3 | Owais Shah | ENG | 236 | 230 | 102.6 | 280.3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0.0 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 5 | 290 |
| 4 | K Pietersen | ENG | 225 | 254 | 88.6 | 238.3 | 66 | 67 | 1 | 6.1 | 13.0 | 0 | 1 | 25 | 5 | 276 |
| 5 | A Flintoff | ENG | 114 | 117 | 97.4 | 130.5 | 252 | 210 | 4 | 5.0 | 100.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 231 |
| 6 | Zaheer Khan | IND | 1 | 7 | 14.3 | -3.8 | 240 | 188 | 8 | 4.7 | 212.0 | 4 | 0 | 20 | 5 | 228 |
| 7 | G Gambhir | IND | 175 | 193 | 90.7 | 189.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0.0 | 3 | 0 | 15 | 4 | 204 |
| 89 | H Singh | IND | 8 | 10 | 80.0 | 7.7 | 252 | 212 | 7 | 5.0 | 173.0 | 1 | 0.5 | 17.5 | 5 | 198 |
| 10 | MS Dhoni | IND | 142 | 175 | 81.1 | 138.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0.0 | 7 | 1 | 60 | 5 | 198 |
| 11 | Stuart Broad | ENG | 48 | 40 | 120.0 | 62.7 | 262 | 268 | 7 | 6.1 | 125.3 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 5 | 198 |
| 12 | Ravi Bopara | ENG | 142 | 165 | 86.1 | 146.5 | 36 | 42 | 1 | 7.0 | 13.0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 165 |
| 13 | Munaf Patel | IND | 0 | 1 | 0.0 | -0.8 | 142 | 109 | 5 | 4.6 | 134.3 | 0 | 1 | 25 | 4 | 159 |
| 14 | Suresh Raina | IND | 102 | 114 | 89.5 | 109.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0.0 | 2 | 1 | 35 | 5 | 144 |
| 15 | Samit Patel | ENG | 85 | 91 | 93.4 | 94.2 | 138 | 180 | 3 | 7.8 | 10.0 | 1 | 1 | 30 | 5 | 134 |
| 16 | Yusuf Pathan | IND | 68 | 48 | 141.7 | 96.0 | 52 | 83 | 3 | 9.6 | 35.3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 131 |
| 17 | I Sharma | IND | 0 | 0 | - | 0.0 | 144 | 155 | 5 | 6.5 | 90.0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 95 |
| 18 | Ian Bell | ENG | 84 | 100 | 84.0 | 84.7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0.0 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 4 | 95 |
| 19 | Collingwood | ENG | 84 | 118 | 71.2 | 69.7 | 54 | 58 | 1 | 6.4 | 12.0 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 5 | 92 |
| 20 | G Swann | ENG | 10 | 9 | 111.1 | 12.5 | 114 | 124 | 4 | 6.5 | 71.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 84 |
| 21 | S Tendulkar | IND | 61 | 78 | 78.2 | 57.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0.0 | 4 | 0 | 20 | 2 | 77 |
| 22 | S Harmison | ENG | 6 | 7 | 85.7 | 6.2 | 162 | 175 | 4 | 6.5 | 60.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 66 |
| 23 | R Sharma | IND | 50 | 72 | 69.4 | 40.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0.0 | 0 | 0.5 | 12.5 | 4 | 53 |
| 24 | Matt Prior | ENG | 47 | 86 | 54.7 | 22.3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0.0 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 5 | 32 |
| 25 | Alastair Cook | ENG | 11 | 15 | 73.3 | 9.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 |
Runs (scored) | Balls (faced) | Strike rate | Bat-pts: Batting points | Bb: Balls bowled | Rc: Runs conceded | W: Wickets taken | Eco: Economy rate | 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.
Virender Sehwag (MVPI of 1254) however continues to be India's most valuable player if we consider the 2008-09 ODI season as a whole (see Table 2 below).
Looking at Table 2, we can draw some more inferences: Zaheer Khan (534 from only 10 matches) is India's best bowler both in Tests and ODIs, and Munaf Patel is a better pick for ODI matches than Ishant Sharma.
Sachin Tendulkar, who was India's MVPI in the last ODI season, but has played only 2 of the 19 matches this season, should climb up the rankings as the season advances if he remains fit.
Table 2: India's most valuable players in the 2008-09 ODI season (19 matches so far)
| Rank | Player | Runs | Balls | Str Rate | Bat Pts | Bb | Rc | W | Eco | Bowl Pts | Ct St | Run Outs | Field Pts | M | MVPI |
| 1 | V Sehwag | 812 | 641 | 126.7 | 1089.8 | 263 | 250 | 7 | 5.7 | 144.2 | 4 | 0 | 20 | 13 | 1254 |
| 2 | Yuvraj Singh | 691 | 652 | 106.0 | 838.7 | 432 | 349 | 9 | 4.8 | 236.0 | 3 | 0 | 15 | 18 | 1090 |
| 3 | MS Dhoni | 750 | 864 | 86.8 | 780.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0.0 | 27 | 4.5 | 247.5 | 19 | 1028 |
| 4 | Suresh Raina | 681 | 717 | 95.0 | 764.5 | 18 | 22 | 0 | 7.3 | -7.0 | 9 | 2 | 95 | 19 | 853 |
| 5 | G Gambhir | 679 | 704 | 96.4 | 771.3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0.0 | 7.0 | 1 | 60 | 17 | 831 |
| 6 | Zaheer Khan | 19 | 73 | 26.0 | -22.8 | 518 | 332 | 17 | 3.8 | 524.7 | 4 | 0.5 | 32.5 | 10 | 534 |
| 7 | Munaf Patel | 20 | 18 | 111.1 | 25.0 | 388 | 275 | 12 | 4.3 | 348.3 | 1 | 1 | 30 | 9 | 403 |
| 8 | H Singh | 25 | 54 | 46.3 | 5.0 | 430 | 325 | 13 | 4.5 | 358.3 | 2 | 1 | 35 | 9 | 398 |
| 9 | Rohit Sharma | 297 | 422 | 70.4 | 242.3 | 83 | 42 | 0 | 3.0 | 27.2 | 3 | 1.5 | 52.5 | 18 | 322 |
| 10 | Irfan Pathan | 105 | 126 | 83.3 | 105.0 | 520 | 473 | 10 | 5.5 | 210.3 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 10 | 320 |
| 11 | Praveen Kumar | 16 | 25 | 64.0 | 11.2 | 495 | 417 | 11 | 5.1 | 270.5 | 3 | 0.5 | 27.5 | 10 | 309 |
| 12 | RP Singh | 8 | 19 | 42.1 | 0.2 | 420 | 413 | 12 | 5.9 | 237.0 | 2 | 2 | 60 | 9 | 297 |
| 13 | Yusuf Pathan | 96 | 89 | 107.9 | 117.8 | 286 | 276 | 6 | 5.8 | 112.3 | 4 | 0.5 | 32.5 | 12 | 263 |
| 14 | Piyush Chawla | 2 | 7 | 28.6 | -1.8 | 322 | 295 | 11 | 5.5 | 248.3 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 252 |
| 15 | Ishant Sharma | 8 | 19 | 42.1 | 0.2 | 540 | 540 | 13 | 6.0 | 235.0 | 3 | 0 | 15 | 10 | 250 |
| 16 | Pragyan Ojha | 27 | 46 | 58.7 | 15.7 | 258 | 173 | 5 | 4.0 | 167.0 | 3 | 0 | 15 | 5 | 198 |
| 17 | Virat Kohli | 159 | 239 | 66.5 | 118.8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0.0 | 3 | 0.5 | 27.5 | 5 | 146 |
| 18 | S Tendulkar | 61 | 78 | 78.2 | 57.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0.0 | 4 | 0 | 20 | 2 | 77 |
| 19 | M Gony | 0 | 0 | - | 0.0 | 94 | 76 | 2 | 4.9 | 52.3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 52 |
| 20 | Robin Uthappa | 37 | 61 | 60.7 | 23.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 23 |
| 21 | S Badrinath | 39 | 87 | 44.8 | 5.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0.0 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 3 | 16 |
Runs (scored) | Balls (faced) | Strike rate | Bat-pts: Batting points | Bb: Balls bowled | Rc: Runs conceded | W: Wickets taken | Eco: Economy rate | 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.
