Advertisement

Help
You are here: Rediff Home » India » Cricket » Report
Search:  Rediff.com The Web
Advertisement
  Discuss this Article   |      Email this Article   |      Print this Article

Dhoni 4th in ICC ODI rankings
Get Cricket updates:What's this?
Advertisement
June 04, 2007 14:36 IST

India wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni [Images] gained a spot to be fourth in the latest LG-ICC Player rankings for ODI batsmen released on Tuesday.

Dhoni, who was the man of the series in the one-day international series against Bangladesh, has a chance to move up to third if he continues his fine form during the Afro-Asia Cup, which begins on Tuesday with a Twenty20 challenge match followed on Wednesday by the first of three one-dayers.

The 25-year-old is just five rating points behind Australia's Mike Hussey and if he continues with his good form  over the next week, he will close the gap on Kevin Pietersen [Images] and Ricky Ponting [Images] at the top.

Skipper Rahul Dravid [Images] also moved up one place to be 15th, just one point behind South African batsman Herschelle Gibbs [Images].

In the bowlers' chart, off-spinner Harbhajan Singh [Images], despite being out of action after being dropped for the tour of Bangladesh has climbed up one spot to share the 13th position with England [Images] all-rounder Andrew Flintoff [Images] and Sri Lankan pacer Lasith Malinga [Images].

The only other Indian in the bowling top-20 is Ajit Agarkar [Images], who occupies the 16th spot.

Shaun Pollock [Images] continues to lead the pack and is set to play in the Afro-Asian Cup as a specialist batsman following a minor foot surgery.

The series will be a chance for another great Asian batsman, Sanath Jayasuriya of Sri Lanka, to move back up the table having just fallen three places to seventh position.

The Asia XI captain and Jayasuriya's Sri Lanka team-mate Mahela Jayawardene will be keen to continue his upward trend, having shot up six places to 13th spot in the latest rankings. He is now not far behind his career-best rating which he set back in 2001 during a home series against the West Indies [Images].

Pakistan's Mohammad Yousuf can use this series as an opportunity to halt his slip down the rankings. He has dropped six places and is now ranked 19th overall in the ODI listings, compared to his impressive second place in the LG ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen.

On the Africa side, Proteas captain Graeme Smith [Images], unavailable for the Afro-Asian Cup as he recovers from knee surgery, is moving up the rankings again and is now level with Jayasuriya in seventh spot while Herschelle Gibbs now lies 14th.

There are also opportunities for emerging players to make names for themselves during this series. Zimbabwe's Elton Chigumbura is currently the highest-ranked batsman from his country at 38th place and he can improve on that position with a good showing.

In the LG ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers there are opportunities for the likes of Thomas Odoyo and Peter Ongondo of Kenya, not to mention returning South Africa off-spinner Johan Botha who has been named in the Africa squad.

Shahid Afridi [Images] is possibly in the form of his life � certainly with the ball � and he has moved into the top 20 in the latest rankings. Although now in 18th position, he still has a long way to go to catch Shaun Pollock in top spot. Pollock is set to play in the Afro-Asian Cup as a specialist batsman following minor foot surgery.

The successful Bangladesh seam bowlers Mohammad Rafique (17th position) and Mashrafe Mortaza (19th position) will also be anxious to impress further as they bowl to top African batsmen like Mark Boucher [Images], AB de Villiers and Steve Tikolo.

Afridi is also making the right sort of moves in the LG ICC Player Rankings for ODI all-rounders, having moved up three places to seventh position in the latest release. He now has New Zealand's Scott Styris in his sights although Pollock still leads from Jacques Kallis [Images] in second and West Indies' Chris Gayle in third.

Afro-Asia Cup fixtures:
5 June: Twenty20 challenge match Asia XI v Africa XI, Bangalore
6 June: First ODI Asia XI v Africa XI, Bangalore
9 June: Second ODI Asia XI v Africa XI, Chennai
10 June: Third ODI Asia XI v Africa XI, Chennai

LG ICC One-Day Rankings (as of 4 June, ahead of Afro-Asia Series)

(Batsmen)
Rank      (+/-)        Player                    Team    Points      Ave         HS Ranking

  1           ( - )          Kevin Pietersen    Eng       827         56.27      834 v Aus at Antigua 2007
  2           ( - )          Ricky Ponting       Aus      799         43.31       805 v SA at Johannesburg 2006
  3           ( - )          Mike Hussey        Aus      766         58.90       863 v NZ at Perth 2007
  4           (+1)         Mahendra Dhoni    Ind       761        45.95       806 v WI at Kingston 2006
  5           (+1)         Matthew Hayden [Images]   Aus      746        43.99       854 v Ind at Centurion 2003
  5=         (+1)         R.R.Sarwan          WI        746       44.55       798 v Ind at St Kitts 2006
  7=         (-3)          S.T.Jayasuriya      SL        740        33.12       838 v Ban at Pietermaritzburg 2003
  7=         (+1)         Graeme Smith      SA        740        39.29       784 v Ind at Kolkata 2005
  9           ( - )          Adam Gilchrist [Images]      Aus      729        36.00       820 v SL at Dambulla 2004
 10          ( - )          Michael Clarke [Images]      Aus      728        45.60       749 v SA at Centurion 2006
 11          ( - )          Andrew Symonds [Images]  Aus      726        39.46       774 v Ban at Fatullah 2006
 12          ( - )          Jacques Kallis       SA       723         45.47       816 v WI at Johannesburg 2004
 13          (+6)         M.Jayawardene      SL       714        33.30       737 v WI at Colombo (RPS) 2001
 14          (+1)         H.H.Gibbs             SA       709        36.20       750 v SL at Durban 2003
 15          (+1)         Rahul Dravid          Ind       708        40.11       754 v WI at Kingston 2006
 16          (+1)         Chris Gayle           WI       706         37.97       804 v Aus at Mumbai 2006
 17          (-4)          K.C.Sangakkara    SL       702        36.18       760 v Ind at Rajkot 2007
 18          ( - )          AB de Villiers        SA      701         34.86       706 v Eng at Bridgetown 2007
 19          (-6)          Mhd Yousuf          Pak      691        41.04       777 v SA at Rawalpindi 2003
 20          ( - )          S.Chanderpaul      WI        682       38.05       754 v SA at Durban 1999

(Bowlers)
Rank      (+/-)        Player                  Team  Points    Ave      Econ       HS Ranking
   1           ( - )          Shaun Pollock       SA      897       24.02     3.71      920 v Pak at Johannesburg 2007
   2           ( - )          Nathan Bracken [Images]    Aus     794       21.36     4.34      806 v SL at St George's 2007
   3           ( - )          Shane Bond [Images]          NZ      790       19.32     4.20      811 v SA at St George's 2007
   4           ( - )          Chaminda Vaas [Images]     SL      753        26.79     4.18      861 v SA at Colombo (RPS) 2004
   5           ( - )          M.Muralidaran      SL      741        22.68    3.84      913 v NZ at Sharjah 2002
   6           ( - )          Daniel Vettori [Images]        NZ     697        32.94    4.22      767 v Eng at Perth 2007
   7           ( - )          Makhaya Ntini [Images]      SA      694        23.59    4.41      782 v WI at Cape Town 2004
   8           ( - )          Brett Lee [Images]              Aus     686        22.65     4.69      853 v SA at Melbourne 2006
   9           ( - )          Abdur Razzaq       Ban     673        22.61    3.92      711 v Eng at Bridgetown 2007
  10          ( - )          Andre Nel [Images]             SA      662        27.61    4.63      666 v Eng at Bridgetown 2007
  11          ( - )          Brad Hogg [Images]            Aus     656        27.10    4.49      661 v SA at St Lucia 2007
  12          (+1)         Andrew Hall [Images]          SA      640        25.70    4.50      655 v Eng at Bridgetown 2007
  13          (+1)         Andrew Flintoff     Eng      635        25.88    4.38      755 v Ban at Dhaka 2003
  13=        (-1)          Lasith Malinga      SL       635*       24.94    4.82      647 v Aus at Bridgetown 2007
  13=        (+1)         Harbhajan Singh   Ind       635         32.45    4.13      735 v WI at Bridgetown 2002
  16          ( - )          Ajit Agarkar         Ind       629         27.55    5.03      676 v WI at Kuala Lumpur 2006
  17          ( - )          Mhd Rafiq            Ban      622         38.74    4.39      650 v Zim at Bogra 2006
  18          (+3)         Shahid Afridi         Pak      619         35.26    4.60      622 v SL at Abu Dhabi 2007
  19          (-1)          M Mortaza           Ban      615         29.14    4.57      679 v Ind at Port-of-Spain 2007
  20          (-1)          Jacob Oram [Images]          NZ      613         30.58    4.52     766 v Aus at The Oval 2004

(All-rounders)
Rank      (+/-)        Player             Team     Points                HS Ranking
   1          ( - )       Shaun Pollock     SA        459                     483 v Pak at Johannesburg 2007
   2          ( - )       Jacques Kallis     SA        396                     505 v WI at Bridgetown 2001
   3          (+1)      Chris Gayle         WI        381                     511 v Zim at Harare 2003
   4          (+1)      Andrew Flintoff   Eng       373                     544 v SL at The Rose Bowl 2004
   5          (-2)       ST Jayasuriya      SL        360                     463 v Pak at Lahore 1997


 Email this Article      Print this Article

© 2007 Rediff.com India Limited. All Rights Reserved. Disclaimer | Feedback