Sport | Cricket
Dhoni on top of the world
Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has knocked his South African counterpart Graeme Smith off top spot in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen after a good performance in the recently-concluded series against Sri Lanka.
- Staff Report
- Published: 23:12 September 5, 2008
- Image Credit: AP
- Indian captain MS Dhoni, who received a car for winning the player-of-the-series award in Sri Lanka, has moved to top of the one-day rankings for batsmen with his impressive performance.
New Delhi: Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has knocked his South African counterpart Graeme Smith off top spot in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen after a good performance in the recently-concluded series against Sri Lanka.
The 27-year-old from Jharkhand was the leading run-scorer in the five-match series with 193 runs that made sure his side clinched their first-ever ODI series in Sri Lanka and in the process displaced Smith at the top of the rankings.
Dhoni, who won the player-of-the-series award, was on top of the batting list for a week in April 2006 and is the first Indian batsman to head the batting chart since Sachin Tendulkar following the tri-series in Australia in March earlier this year.
Tendulkar, however, has dropped three places to ninth in the latest rankings after missing the series with elbow injury. A player loses one per cent of his rating for missing every match.
Fitting reward
Besides Dhoni, Suresh Raina is the only other India batsman to improve his batting ranking. The 21-year-old left-handed batsman scored 157 runs in the series and was rewarded by rising 18 places to 35th position.
Kumar Sangakkara remains as Sri Lanka's highest-ranked batsman at 15th position after dropping two places, while Sanath Jayasuriya is in 17th place, rising one position. Captain Mahela Jayawardena has climbed two places to 24th position.
England captain Kevin Pietersen has jumped five places to seventh position after knocks of 90 not out and one against South Africa.
In the rankings for bowlers, Indian fast bowler Zaheer Khan has become his country's highest-ranked bowler in 14th place. The 29-year-old left-armer took nine wickets in the series and has stormed into the top 20 after jumping eight places.
Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas have dropped in the bowlers' rankings. England's Stuart Broad has achieved his career-best ranking of fourth after figures of 1-61, 5-23 and 0-28 and has third place firmly within his sights.
Broad's team-mate Andrew Flintoff has struck gold in the latest rankings. The Lancastrian has surged to the top of the allrounders list after jumping six places.
The 30-year-old achieved the feat after climbing 10 places to 38th in the batting list and lifting four places to 13th position in the bowling chart.
Andrew Flintoff has struck gold in the latest rankings. The Lancastrian has surged to the top of the allrounders list
Multimedia
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