UNI

NEW DELHI, Sep 24: Dashing batsman Yuvraj Singh is just one point behind Pakistani all-rounder Shahid Afridi in the list of contenders for the Player of the Tournament award.

Yuvraj Singh, alongwith three of Afridi's team-mates Misbah-ul-Haq, Younis Khan and his captain, Shoaib Malik are also in  contention.
  
All five players have performed strongly during the tournament so  far.
  
The Pakistani all-rounder has so far polled seven votes to top the table, but there are still four players who can catch -up with him as they all come from sides contesting tommorow's final between India and Pakistan.
  
Afridi is the joint leading wicket-taker, alongside Australia's Stuart Clark with 12 victims and has also scored rapidly whenever he has reached the batting crease, making 91 runs from just 45 balls  faced.
  
Malik (187) and Misbah (175) are the other leading run-scorers in the tournament, only Matthew Hayden of Australia with 265 runs has scored more than Malik's total, while Younis's haul of 103 runs includes 51 against Sri Lanka, part of a fourth-wicket record stand of 101 with Malik.
  
Younis has also taken six catches, a mark only AB De Villiers of South Africa, among all outfielders in the tournament, can match.
  
As for the effervescent Yuvraj, his 134 runs in the tournament has come from just 57 balls, giving him the best batting strike-rate (235.08) of any player with 75 runs or more.
  
His total includes 12 sixes, seven during his 16-ball innings of 58 against England which included the six maximums in one over from Stuart Broad, and another five in his 70 from just 30 deliveries
against Australia in the semi-finals.  
  
The votes for the Player of the Tournament award are cast by the commentators.
  
They nominate the player of the match for each game on a 3, 2, 1 basis, with three votes for the top performer, two for next best and one vote for the third choice. Those votes are then added together to produce the player of the tournament standings.
  
All matches, including the final, count towards those standings and the player with the most votes at the end of the tournament receives a trophy.
  
If more than one player finishes tied at the top of the list then the player with the most man of the match awards is declared the winner.
  
Yuvraj has two man of the match awards so far (against England and Australia) while Misbah (Australia), Younus (Sri Lanka) and Afridi (Scotland) have one each.
  
Player of the Tournament Standings (ahead of final):

Shahid Afridi (Pak) 7
Stuart Clark (Aus) 6
Sanath Jayasuriya (SL) 6
Morne Morkel (SA) 6
Yuvraj Singh (Ind) 6
Matthew Hayden (Aus) 5
Brett Lee (Aus) 5
Craig McMillan (NZ) 5
Misbah-ul-Haq (Pak) 5
Younus Khan (Pak) 5
Nathan Bracken (Aus) 4
Dilhara Fernando (SL)4
Shoaib Malik (Pak) 4.