The Hindu : Sport : Dhoni ranked second

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Apr 17, 2006

Sport

Sport

Dhoni ranked second

India is placed third in ODIs

Dubai: Indian wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni's dazzling display with the bat has catapulted him to the second spot — next only to Ricky Ponting — while after drubbing England 5-1 in the recent home series, India has reached the third place in the latest LG ICC one-day international rankings.

Dhoni began the series in fifth position, but 177 runs at an average of 59, including a 96 at Jamshedpur, has pushed him up the list and he is now just seven rating points behind Australia's Ponting.

India's triumph saw it leapfrog New Zealand and Pakistan in the championship table and it is now just three rating points behind second-placed South Africa.

And if India can win both its upcoming one-dayers against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi, it will reduce that margin to just one point. Australia is 13 points clear of South Africa at the top of the table.

Third place is India's highest position since the table was launched. In April 2005, it was in the eighth spot.

Yuvraj is ninth

Dhoni is one of four Indians in the top 20 batsmen. Yuvraj Singh is ninth, Rahul Dravid is 11th and Sachin Tendulkar is 18th.

Virender Sehwag, who scored 78 runs in five innings during the series against England, has dropped seven places and is now 28th.

All-rounder Irfan Pathan has also made some progress up the player rankings. The left-armer is now fourth in the bowling list, behind South African Shaun Pollock, Australia's Glenn McGrath and Shane Bond of New Zealand and he has eased up to third in the one-day all-rounder's table behind Pollock and England's Andrew Flintoff.

Harbhajan moves up

Harbhajan Singh, the leading wicket-taker in the one-day series, is up six places to seventh, while further down that list, S. Sreesanth, who took six for 55 in Indore, has moved up 32 places to be joint 66th.

Pietersen in top 10

Pakistan can overtake India and move into third place if it wins both one-dayers in Abu Dhabi. Two victories will give it 116 rating points and drop India to 114.

LG ICC ODI championship table: 1. Australia (132); 2. South Africa (119); 3. India (116); 4. Pakistan (114); 5. New Zealand (113); 6. Sri Lanka (105); 7. England (103); 8. West Indies (89); 9. Zimbabwe (42); 10. Bangladesh (24); 11. Kenya (7).

LG ICC one-day player rankings (top 10 batsmen): 1. Ricky Ponting (Aus); 2. M.S. Dhoni (Ind); 3. Adam Gilchrist (Aus); 4. Andrew Symonds (Aus); 5. Graeme Smith (SA); 6. Mike Hussey (Aus); 7. Kevin Pietersen (Eng); 8. Kumar Sangakkara (SL); 9. Yuvraj Singh (Ind); 10. Michael Clarke (Aus).

LG ICC ODI player rankings (top 10 bowlers): 1. Shaun Pollock (SA); 2. Glenn McGrath (Aus); 3. Shane Bond (NZ); 4. Irfan Pathan (Ind); 5. Daniel Vettori (NZ); 6. Brett Lee (Aus); 7. Harbhajan Singh (Ind); 8. Muttiah Muralitharan (SL); 9. Chaminda Vaas (SL); 9. Nathan Bracken (Aus).

LG ICC ODI payer rnkings (top five all-rounders): 1. Shaun Pollock (SA); 2. Andrew Flintoff (Eng); 3. Irfan Pathan (Ind); 4. Andrew Symonds (Aus); 5. Shoaib Malik (Pak). — UNI

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