Mahendra Singh Dhoni, India's limited-overs captain, has moved to the top spot in the ICC rankings for ODI batsmen after his consistent performance with the bat in the recent series against Sri Lanka. The other big mover is Andrew Flintoff, who is now ranked as the No. 1 allrounder in ODIs.

Dhoni's 193 runs helped India to a 3-2 series triumph, their first in a bilateral series in Sri Lanka. He was the highest run-getter in the five-ODI contest and also won the series prize. Dhoni displaces Graeme Smith, the South African captain, from the No. 1 spot. He had been on top of the rankings briefly for a week in April 2006, and had pushed up to second place earlier this year following the Asia Cup in Pakistan.

With both Smith and Ricky Ponting ruled out of the forthcoming ODIs for South Africa and Australia respectively, Michael Hussey, behind them in fourth spot, could make his way up with good scores in the ODI series against Bangladesh.

Meanwhile, Kevin Pietersen, the England captain, has broken into the top ten and is currently in seventh place, behind Mohammad Yousuf and Shivnarine Chanderpaul. Pietersen, who is targeting a 5-0 whitewash against South Africa, could better Yousuf and Chanderpaul with impressive showings in the remaining two games.

Two of Pietersen's team-mates have also gained in the charts after England secured a winning 3-0 lead. Flintoff, back in England colours in nearly a year, climbed six places to topple Shoaib Malik while Jacques Kallis, who's had a torrid time in England, drops two places to No. 5. In the three ODIs, Flintoff has taken seven wickets and made 156 runs, with scores of 78 and 78 not out.

Stuart Broad, who took career-best figures of 5 for 23 in the second ODI at Trent Bridge, has jumped to No. 4 in the rankings for bowlers, which is led by Nathan Bracken.

9:44 AM
Categories: Cricket. Author: SacHu