The Hindu : Tendulkar firmly on top

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Sep 24, 2003

Sport

Sport - Cricket

Tendulkar firmly on top

London Sept. 23. Sachin Tendulkar's dominance at the 2003 cricket World Cup has ensured that he rules the one-day batting ratings, released on Monday, in spite of a six-month break from international outings.

The `Master Blaster' leads the ratings with 773 points and an average of 44.43. He is followed by Australian one-day captain Ricky Ponting, who is a full 10 points behind on 763 and has an average of 42.16, according to the PriceWaterhouseCoopers one-day International cricket ratings released here.

West Indies captain Brian Lara, who recently remarked that the race between him and Tendulkar for becoming the best batsman in the world was still on, is placed third. He has accrued 745 points and enjoys an average of 43.10.

In the bowlers' rankings, the fight for the top spot continues to be contested amongst spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan, former South African skipper Shaun Pollock and Aussie spearhead Glenn McGrath.

The Sri Lankan spinner presently leads the ratings with 893 points and an average of 22.32. Pollock (883 points, 23.15) and McGrath (871 points, 22.38) are in second and third place, respectively.

Paceman Zaheer Khan and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh are the two Indians in the bowling ratings.

Zaheer, placed ninth, has 742 points with an average of 24.82, while Harbhajan (728 points, 28.29) shares 10th position with England's allrounder Andrew Flintoff.

Top 10 batsmen (player, country, points, average): 1. Sachin Tendulkar, India, 773, 44.43; 2. Ricky Ponting, Australia, 763, 42.16; 3. Brian Lara, West Indies, 745, 43.10; 4. Michael Bevan, Australia, 743, 55.17; 5. Chris Gayle, West Indies, 735, 36.61; 6. Adam Gilchrist, Australia, 727, 34.50; 7. Yousuf Youhana, Pakistan, 726, 43.10; 8. Marcus Trescothick, England, 724, 38.29; 9. Matthew Hayden, Australia, 718, 42.21; 10. Jacques Kallis, South Africa, 716, 44.63.

Top 10 bowlers: 1. Muttiah Muralitharan, Sri Lanka, 893, 22.32; 2. Shaun Pollock, South Africa, 883, 23.15; 3. Glenn McGrath, Australia, 871, 22.38; 4. Brett Lee, Australia, 807, 21.43; 5. Chaminda Vaas, Sri Lanka, 805, 27.30; 5. Makhaya Ntini, South Africa, 805, 23.35; 7. Jason Gillespie, Australia, 804, 24.14; 8. Shane Bond, New Zealand, 756, 19.00; 9. Zaheer Khan, India, 742, 24.82; 10. Harbhajan Singh, India, 728, 28.29 and Andrew Flintoff, England, 728, 26.01. — UNI

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport