The term ‘Most Valuable Player’ or ‘MVP’ is generally a term that we associate with American sports. It can seem to give too much credence to an individual in a team sport, and as such not seem a natural fit with cricket. However, with the plethora of ICC lists of best cricketers of all time, or best cricketers in their given field of expertise, I thought it might be a good time to look at who are the five most valuable players across all three forms of international cricket right now.

#2 Sachin Tendulkar

I’m really not sure whether Sachin Tendulkar being at number two on this list will be ridiculed because he is either too high or not high enough. Such is the devotion shown to the man, I am sure there will be some that will cast doubt upon my sanity by daring to place him at anything other than number one. But there will be others who will possibly say that he is only so high because of his reputation; that he is starting to show that he has ‘passed it’. Well, in my reckoning, Sachin is still one of the most valuable players in world cricket today. Let me tell you why.

At almost 39 years of age, Tendulkar is still the most feared batsman in world cricket. As his contemporaries have either retired (Lara) or are fading (Ponting) Tendulkar has remained strong. In fact, I’d argue that the most impressive aspect of Tendulkar’s extraordinary career is that he has come back from what looked like a terminal decline in form. It’s hard to remember, but a few years ago, when he was forever sporting that tennis elbow (mind the pun), Sachin stopped scoring and for the first time in history, his technique looked to be failing him. So, what did the Little Master do? He put his head down and worked hard. Now into his 183rd test match, Sachin is back averaging over 56 and as we all know is nearing 100 international centuries. More than these numbers though is that he has regained his regal posture at the crease.

I was watching some old highlights of the Master Blaster, Viv Richards the other night. Viv is known and revered not only for his incredible batting prowess, but also for his ‘presence’ at the crease. He had that swagger and would push his chest out when even the most fearsome bowlers ran in to deliver their thunderbolts. Sachin has quite a different presence, but no less intimadating. He looks just completely at ease, and as if no bowler could shake his nerve and that peerless technique. He scratches away at the crease, does a little bop, taps his bat on the ground, and then allows the bowler to deliver him a ball. It’s just magic to watch, and in case you think it doesn’t instil fear in a bowlers mind, just ask the likes of Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath who they least liked bowling to.

One surprise when looking through Tendulkar’s test figures is that he has never scored a triple century. We know that the likes of Virender Sehwag and Chris Gayle have managed a few, and of course Brian Lara was known for his epic scores. I’m actually not sure what it says about Sachin that he hasn’t, perhaps it suggests a man who never bats for himself and always keeps the team in mind.

Perhaps more than any other player, Sachin is the man who pulled India into its position as a modern cricketing power. Whilst his feats at test level have been extraordinary, it’s his dominance in the 50-over format that has taken Indian cricket to fever pitch. He has scored over 18,000 runs in 453 ODI matches at an average of 45. He is the only man to score a double century, has over 150 wickets and is now, finally, a world cup winner. Phew! Some resume!

All that said, what makes him still one of the most valuable players in world cricket right now is that he is supreme in cricket’s newest form, particularly the IPL. He has consistently been one of the top scorers in the competition, and his feats for his Mumbai Indians have shown that it the old guys can still have an impact in the smash and grab competition. What I love about him in the IPL is that he still has that amazing presence, and relies on his technique to score runs for fun. There are so many players in that competition who just pull the front foot away and try and hit the ball into the atmosphere, but Tendulkar strides forward to cover drive, ducks down to hit over the slips, and leans forward to caress through mid-wicket. Each of these strokes are as perfect as the next, and let us hope that continues as far into the future as possible.

Let me know what you think about Sachin Tendulkar and whether you think he should have been higher or lower by making a comment below, and check back next week for number one on the list.

Number 3: Shane Watson

Number 4: Dale Steyn

Number 5: Virender Sehwag

The term ‘Most Valuable Player’ or ‘MVP’ is generally a term that we associate with American sports. It can seem to give too much credence to an individual in a team sport, and as such not seem a natural fit with cricket. However, with the plethora of ICC lists of best cricketers of all time, or best cricketers in their given field of expertise, I thought it might be a good time to look at who are the five most valuable players across all three forms of international cricket right now.

Number 3: Shane Watson

In a way, I’m glad that I waited to write this entry into my list of most valuable cricketers, because only last week Watson produced one of the more extraordinary bowling performances, taking 5/17 off just five overs. However, I guess my timing might also suggest opportunism, but I stress, Watson was always going to be on this list, no matter his ultimately fruitless feats at Newlands. The funny thing with Watson is that the rest of the world can’t quite understand why we Aussies have a bit of a love/hate thing going on with him. I guess fans from around the world just see a good-looking, super-fit, talented all-rounder who is leading his country’s next generation. Rest assured, we see this too, but Watson has always come with a bit of baggage that can only be described as his temperament.

Probably the best example of Watson’s Achilles heel, was this ridiculous performance, literally in the face of the coolest man in cricket (in the world?) Chris Gayle. But his conduct on the pitch has often been ordinary, and that kind of behaviour is quite obviously unacceptable. That all said, Watson does seemed to have calmed down and I think his time with the Rajasthan Royals, where he has shared a locker room with international players, may well have had a good effect on his general demeanour. So, that side now covered, let’s delve into the career of this super player of the modern era.

Shane Watson made his test debut in a very different looking Australian side against Pakistan in 2005. Unlike the current Australian band of misfits, this was a side that included Langer, Hayden, Gilchrist, Warne and McGrath. Watson at this stage was very much being shaped as Australia’s answer to their Ashes nemesis Andrew Flintoff, however his body just couldn’t hold up, and it has not been until the last couple of years that Watson has been able to have an extended run in the team. A batting average of 38 doesn’t suggest a world-beating opener, but if you combine this with a bowling average of 28 you start to see why he is so important to Australia (Flintoff finished with figures of 31 with the bat and 32 with the ball). One major caveat to Watson’s test career so far has been his inability to transfer fifties into hundreds, but it seems his move down the order is nigh, and I have no doubt this will help him given his increased bowling load under Michael Clarke.

There is no doubt that 50-over cricket is where Watson has been at his most devastating for his country. Opening the batting, Watson averages an impressive 43 with a strike-rate of nearly 90. He has smashed six centuries and has a highest score of 185*. You can throw that in with 138 wickets at a strike rate of 36 and some fine slips catching, and Watson starts to emerge as one of the most damaging players in one-day cricket. Apart from the numbers, Watson also seems to perform well on the big occasions and he, like Adam Gilchrist before him, sets the tone of the innings by attacking bowlers with precision.

Watson’s international T20 figures also reinforce his dominance. He boasts an extraordinary strike-rate of 144 and takes his wickets at a strike-rate of 20…good numbers you’ll agree. Whilst his numbers in the IPL aren’t quite as impressive, there is no doubt that his involvement with the Royals was crucial in their inaugural victory in the competition and he remains one of the most sought after players in this format.

Now at the age of thirty, Watson is no longer the young brash up-start with unrealised promise. As an opening bat, leading bowler and one of Michael Clarke’s most trusted lieutenant’s, Watson is shaping Australia’s new era. Whether he can help return it to the heights reached by the side he first joined is still to be seen, however there is no doubt that he is certainly one of the most valuable players in world cricket right now.

Let me know what you think about Shane Watson and whether you think he should have been higher or lower by making a comment below, and check back next week for number three on the list.

The term ‘Most Valuable Player’ or ‘MVP’ is generally a term that we associate with American sports. It can seem to give too much credence to an individual in a team sport, and as such not seem a natural fit with cricket. However, with the plethora of ICC lists of best cricketers of all time, or best cricketers in their given field of expertise, I thought it might be a good time to look at who are the five most valuable players across all three forms of international cricket right now.

Number 4: Dale Steyn

Twenty years ago it would have been a formality to pick the number one test bowler on this list. However, times have changed and just because a player is dynamite at test cricket doesn’t mean he can automatically be judged one of the five most valuable players in cricket today (Alastair Cook anyone??). With that in mind I confidently include Dale Steyn at number four on this list because whilst he is the best test bowler in the world, he is also a devastating performer in the shorter formats. The most expensive bowler at this years IPL auction, Steyn is a commodity worth owning and his stocks just continue to rise.

It’s no mean feat to become the fastest South African bowler to 100 test wickets. To achieve this, Steyn has had to by-pass the likes of Shaun Pollock, Makhaya Ntini and Allan Donald, which he has done with ease. At the time of writing Steyn is now up to 238 wickets, which he is sure to add to in the upcoming series against Australia. These wickets have come at the superb average of 23 and a strike rate of 39, which is the fourth best in the history of the game.

One of the best test performances I have seen was Steyn’s against a crumbling Australia in the 2008 Boxing Day test in Melbourne. Australia had not lost a home series in what felt like a hundred years, but in the crucial test in Melbourne Steyn took match figures of 10/154. His mixture of pace, swing and aggression was something to behold, as was his extraordinary tenacity when he scored 76 in a match-winning partnership with JP Duminy. Steyn’s performance in this test is indicative of his approach to test cricket, which is certainly commendable. Steyn has recently implored the ICC to schedule more the longest format, and actually argues that he performs at his best when he is presented with a demanding amount of cricket across all three formats.

Given he has already played 46 tests, it is somewhat surprising that Steyn has only managed 57 ODI’s. Imagine that balance for Indian player!! Some chance!! That said, Steyn has a very respectable 85 wickets at 27, with an economy rate of a whisker over 5 and a strike rate of an extraordinary 32. Like his fantastic fast bowling predecessors has been unable to deliver South Africa World Cup glory, but he seems to be able to move the white ball just about as much as the red. Furthermore, he has that fantastic ability to not only attack, but even tie down an end, thus allowing his contemporaries Morne Morkel and Lonwabo Tsotsobe to feast on their foe.

At international T20 level, Steyn has taken his 29 wickets at a strike rate of 16 (are you starting to see a trend?) and has impressive best bowling figures of 4/9. As mentioned, he was the most expensive bowler at this years IPL auction, and he remains committed to performing at his best for the Deccan Chargers.

At 28 years of age Steyn is right in the prime of his career and should be able to hold this unbelievable level of performance for at least a couple more years. Like Allan Donald, his action is so fluent that he seems less likely than others to suffer any major injuries. Perhaps the best bowler to compare him to of recent times, other than the obvious similarities to Donald, is the lost New Zealand talent of Shane Bond. The searing fast Kiwi had the same combination of explosive pace and deadly swing, and in fact sits above Steyn in the all-time test strike rate list. However, Bond’s career was devastated by injury and by a cricketing system that banished him for his involvement with the now defunct Indian Cricket League.

Shane Bond

Thankfully, Steyn holds the full support of the powerful and organised South African cricket board. With his magnificent pace and passion for the game, Steyn is undoubtedly one of the most valuable players in world cricket right now. No matter the format you need to take wickets to win a game of cricket, and there is no other fast bowler who could give you a better chance of doing exactly that than Dale Steyn.

Let me know what you think about Dale Steyn and whether you think he should have been higher or lower by making a comment below, and check back next week for number three on the list.

The term ‘Most Valuable Player’ or ‘MVP’ is generally a term that we associate with American sports. It can seem to give too much credence to an individual in a team sport, and as such not seem a natural fit with cricket. However, with the plethora of ICC lists of best cricketers of all time, or best cricketers in their given field of expertise, I thought it might be a good time to look at who are the five most valuable players across all three forms of international cricket right now.

Number 5: Virender Sehwag

Whether he is representing India in tests, ODI’s, T20’s or even opening for Delhi in the IPL, Virender Sehwag is a seriously dangerous customer. In fact, I would suggest that Viru is the player that stays true to his game the most, no matter the format.

In a way, Sehwag’s record in test matches is almost ridiculous given that the popular position on his play was always ‘he won’t be able to keep getting away with it’. Many thought he would go the way of Shahid Afridi, who occasionally pulled off a match-winning torch of an innings, but mostly crashed and burned. But not Viru. Quite improbably his test average of 52 has been scored at a strike rate of over 80. Put this together with 22 test centuries, more double centuries than any other Indian player in history, as well as two triple centuries, and you start to get an idea of just how damaging Sehwag is at test level. Of course, he plays less of it these days, but his record speaks for itself and certainly shows that he, more than any other, has been able to adapt an approach suited to limited over cricket to the test arena.

If you had to name one player who carried on the torch first lit by Sanath Jayasuria as an attacking opener in ODI cricket, it would have to be Sehwag. Across a career spanning more than 230 games, Sehwag has continually taken to attacks with vigour and has often put India into a strong position from which their incredible middle order can consolidate. Dean Jones recently rated Sehwag’s cover drive as the best he has seen and I’m sure many opposition bowlers would agree. It is a thing of beauty. He stands up so straight and just pushes his hands at the ball, which invariably ends up smacking the cover boundary. Sehwag’s 7700+ ODI runs have come at over a run a ball, and he has smashed 14 centuries across his career. Importantly, he has also contributed 92 wickets and has often provided his captains with an important option in the middle overs.

All that said there is no doubt that T20 cricket was made for Viru. Even though he can obviously perform unbelievably well in the longer forms, Sehwag’s blistering stroke play and handy off-spin are just perfect for T20 cricket. At a national level he averages nearly 28 with a strike rate of 160, with a century thrown in as well. For the Delhi Daredevils he improves that to an average of 29 with a strike rate of 170, oh, and another century! What is fantastic about his play at this level is that he doesn’t just slog the ball, he still plays magnificent strokes, but just with deadly power and precision.

The perfect player to start your innings in any form, Virender Sehwag is a supreme modern cricketer who rightfully earns his place in my list of the top 5 most valuable players in cricket right now.

Let me know what you think about Viru and whether you think he should have been higher or lower by making a comment below, and check back next week for number four on the list.