The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : India hopes to improve points tally

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Sport

Sport - Cricket

India hopes to improve points tally

Dubai: Mahendra Singh Dhoni will start the series against the West Indies within touching distance of regaining the top spot in the LG ICC Player rankings for ODI batsmen, while India hopes to close the gap to second-placed South Africa in championship table with clean sweep of the five-match series in the Caribbeans.

Dhoni held the top spot briefly after India's two-match series against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi last month but was then overtaken by Adam Gilchrist following Australia's three-match clash with Bangladesh.

But despite slipping one place down the table, Dhoni is only three rating points behind Gilchrist and if he maintains his recent high level of performances when he faces Brian Lara's side, that should be enough to return him to the No. 1 position.

For India, a clean sweep of the five-match series that begins at Sabina Park, Jamaica on Thursday will push it ever closer to second place in the LG ICC ODI championship table.

Rahul Dravid's side is currently third in that table, three rating points behind South Africa after winning 18 of its last 24 matches in this form of the game.

And a 5-0 victory in the series will see it move up to 118 points, just one behind the Proteas and 14 behind runaway leader Australia.

The West Indies will, of course, has other plans and a 4-1 victory for Lara and his players will allow them to close the gap on seventh-placed England to just eight rating points, according to an ICC release here on Tuesday.

That margin of success for the home team will drop India to fifth in the table below Pakistan and New Zealand, and even a 3-2 success for the West Indies will see India slide to fourth behind Inzamam-ul Haq's side.

Meanwhile, apart from Dhoni, there are two other Indian batsmen in the top 20 with Rahul Dravid in 10th position and Yuvraj Singh one place further back, while Virender Sehwag lies in joint 24th, along with England's Andrew Strauss.

Pathan in second spot

In the bowling list, Irfan Pathan is in second spot, although he is 93 rating points behind leader Shaun Pollock of South Africa, while Harbhajan Singh is 10th.

Pathan is also well-placed in the LG ICC Player rankings for ODI all-rounders, lying third in that table behind Pollock and England's Andrew Flintoff.

The West Indies' highest-placed batsman in the LG ICC Player rankings is Ramnaresh Sarwan, who is ninth after rising four spots following an excellent series against Zimbabwe.

Below him, Chris Gayle is 14th, former captain Shivnarine Chanderpaul is 26th and Runako Morton, who made 109 in Saturday's rain-ruined match against Zimbabwe in Trinidad, is joint 50th, alongside Lou Vincent of New Zealand.

Brian Lara, who was playing his first ODI for the West Indies since May 2005 in the matches against Zimbabwe, is in 33rd position.

Gayle is just behind Pathan in the LG ICC Player rankings for ODI all-rounders, standing in fourth spot in that list, but the West Indies has only one player in the top 20 bowlers, left-armer Ian Bradshaw, in 15th place.

Below Bradshaw, Corey Collymore is 29th while Gayle is 30th and Jerome Taylor, who broke into the top 100 after taking nine wickets in five matches against Zimbabwe, is 93rd in the list.

LG ICC ODI championship: 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 (91); 9. Zimbabwe (40); 10. Bangladesh (23) and 11. Kenya (7).

LG ICC Player rankings (Top 10): Batsmen: 1. Adam Gilchrist, Aus (809); 2. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Ind (806); 3. Ricky Ponting, Aus (785); 4. Andrew Symonds, Aus (774); 5. Mike Hussey, Aus (762); 6. Graeme Smith, SA (759); 7. Kevin Pietersen, Eng (745); 8. Kumar Sangakkara, SL (736); 9. Ramnaresh Sarwan, WI (735); 10. Rahul Dravid, Ind (729).

Bowlers: 1. Shaun Pollock, SA (858); 2. Irfan Pathan, Ind (765); 3. Shane Bond, NZ (762); 4. Glenn McGrath, Aus (756); 5. Daniel Vettori, NZ (750); 6. Brett Lee, Aus (732); 7. Nathan Bracken, Aus (723); 8. Muttiah Muralitharan, SL (701); 9. Chaminda Vaas, SL (693); 10. Harbhajan Singh, Ind (690).

All-rounders (Top 5): 1. Shaun Pollock, SA (462); 2. Andrew Flintoff, Eng (432); 3. Irfan Pathan, Ind (413); 4. Chris Gayle, WI (391); 5. Andrew Symonds, Aus (378). — UNI

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