India captain moves ahead of Chris Gayle following first ODI against Sri Lanka
South Africa’s AB de Villiers rejoins the top 10 batsmen rankings; Johan Botha breaks into top 20 bowlers after impressive series Down Under
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has reclaimed the top rank in the Reliance
Mobile ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen from the West Indies Chris Gayle.Dhoni’s 61 not out against Sri Lanka in his side’s first ODI of a five-match series has enabled the 27-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman to regain his place at the head of the table. There will be ample opportunity for Dhoni to put daylight between him and the chasing pack as the rest of the series unfolds in Colombo.
Further down the batting table there have been a few noticeable movements, including South Africa’s AB de Villiers who has shot up 10 places to rejoin the top 10 for the first time since August 2008. De Villiers made a strong impression with the bat during South Africa’s 4-1 series win over Australia appearing in four of the five ODIs and averaging 63.66 for the series.
It wasn’t all bad news for Australia as Michael Hussey has climbed two places to return to the top five in the batsmen’s rankings. Hussey scored 78 in the fifth and final ODI in Perth as his side went down by 39 runs.
Meanwhile, South Africa’s Jacques Kallis has slipped two places to 14th while Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara has risen one place to joint-16th with Pakistan’s Shoaib Malik and Salman Butt.
India’s Gautam Gambhir has climbed four places to claim the number 20 spot in the rankings. It is the first time the 27-year-old has been in the top-20 since August 2008 when he reached 19th place during a previous tour to Sri Lanka.
South Africa’s Jean-Paul Duminy and Hashim Amla have also made inroads on the table. Duminy who has had an exceptional series with the bat, in both Tests and ODIs, has climbed eight places to take 29th position while his team-mate Amla has risen a substantial 34 places after an impressive performance in Australia. Amla’s 97 in Perth and series average of 49.75 has pushed the 25-year-old right-handed batsman up to 37th place.
Zimbabwe’s Elton Chigumbura has also climbed the batsman rankings, some 11 places to go joint 47th with Bangladesh’s Mohammad Ashraful.
The Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers has seen no change in the top five with the table still headed by New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori followed by Sri Lanka’s Nuwan Kulasekara. However, further down the top 20 there has been plenty of movement, most noticeably from South Africa’s Johan Botha.
The 26-year-old off-spinner has shot up 13 places in the rankings to take 13th place, the highest of his career so far. Botha, who captained the Proteas to victory over Australia, took a total of eight wickets in the five matches at an average of 23.50 and an impressive economy-rate of exactly four runs per over.
India’s Zaheer Khan has climbed two places in the rankings to go joint-ninth, level with England’s Andrew Flintoff.
Australia’s Mitchell Johnson has slipped out of the top 10 for the first time since July 2008. The 27-year-old fast bowler has dropped seven places to go 14th, one place below Botha.
Outside of the top 20, South Africa’s Dale Steyn is steadily climbing the table, gaining 10 places to take 35th spot after his four-match appearance in Australia. Five places below Steyn, in 40th, is Zimbabwe’s Ray Price. Price has also climbed 10 positions in the table after making a good start for Zimbabwe in their five-match series in Kenya.
There has been no change in the top-ranked player in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for ODI all-rounders, with Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan still top of the table. However, Kallis has dropped out of the top five and has been replaced by Gayle.
Reliance Mobile ICC ODI Player Rankings (as of 31 January)
Batsmen
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Ave Highest Ranking
1 (+1) MS Dhoni Ind 792 47.57 806 v WI at Kingston 2006
2 (-1) Chris Gayle WI 783 40.63 804 v Aus at Mumbai 2006
3 ( - ) S.Chanderpaul WI 769 ! 41.14 769 v NZ at Napier 2009
4 (+2) Mike Hussey Aus 754 54.35 863 v NZ at Perth 2007
5 ( - ) Ricky Ponting Aus 746 43.23 832 v NZ at Hobart 2007
6 (-2) Graeme Smith SA 741 40.88 792 v Ban at Dhaka 2008
7 ( - ) Yuvraj Singh Ind 739 37.08 754 v Eng at Bangalore 2008
8 ( - ) Kevin Pietersen Eng 730 48.36 834 v Aus at Antigua 2007
9 ( - ) Mohd Yousuf Pak 716 43.19 777 v SA at Rawalpindi 2003
10 (+8) AB de Villiers SA 715 37.62 733 v Ban at Dhaka 2008
11 (-1) A Symonds Aus 701 40.34 778 v Ind at Nagpur 2007
12 (-2) Sachin Tendulkar Ind 698 44.15 887 v Zim at Sharjah 1998
13 ( - ) R. Sarwan WI 696 44.17 798 v Ind at St Kitts 2006
14 (-2) Jacques Kallis SA 695 45.30 816 v WI at Johannesburg 2004
15 (-1) Herschelle Gibbs SA 685 36.04 750 v SL at Durban 2003
16= (-1) Shoaib Malik Pak 683 35.70 690 v WI at Abu Dhabi 2008
(+1) K Sangakkara SL 683 35.92 760 v Ind at Rajkot 2007
(-1) Salman Butt Pak 683 39.77 698 v SL at Karachi 2009
19 (+2) S Jayasuriya SL 682 32.83 838 v Ban at Pietermaritzburg 2003
20 (+4) G Gambhir Ind 671 37.69 696 v SL at Karachi 2008
Bowlers
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Ave Econ Highest Ranking
1 ( - ) Daniel Vettori NZ 754 31.74 4.16 790 v Eng at Christchurch 2008
2 ( - ) N Kulasekara SL 739* 25.98 4.22 749 v Pak at Lahore 2009
3 ( - ) Nathan Bracken Aus 720 22.82 4.35 806 v SL at St George's 2007
4 ( - ) M Muralidaran SL 706 22.57 3.87 913 v NZ at Sharjah 2002
5 ( - ) Kyle Mills NZ 704 25.90 4.62 713 v WI at Wellington 2009
6 ( - ) Shakib Al Hasan Ban 687 ! 30.05 4.02 687 v Zim at Dhaka 2009
7 (+1) Stuart Broad Eng 673 27.58 4.94 701 v SA at Trent Bridge 2008
8 (+1) M Mortaza Ban 671 29.82 4.57 678 v Ind at Port-of-Spain 2007
9= (+1) Andrew Flintoff Eng 662 24.69 4.38 755 v Ban at Dhaka 2003
(+2) Zaheer Khan Ind 662 28.68 4.83 700 v SA at Dhaka 2003
11 ( - ) Jerome Taylor WI 660 26.26 4.67 688 v SA at Cape Town 2008
12 (+1) Ajantha Mendis SL 657* 11.67 3.74 659 v Pak at Karachi 2009
13 (+13) Johan Botha SA 653*! 36.86 4.43 653 v Aus at Perth 2009
14 (-7) Mitchell Johnson Aus 652 25.77 4.90 726 v Ban at Darwin 2008
15 ( - ) Jacob Oram NZ 645 30.25 4.38 768 v Aus at The Oval 2004
16 (-2) Brett Lee Aus 641 22.96 4.71 853 v SA at Melbourne 2006
17 (-1) Umar Gul Pak 640 ! 25.24 4.92 640 v SL at Lahore 2009
18 (-1) Sohail Tanvir Pak 639* 27.34 4.93 673 v WI at Abu Dhabi 2008
19 (-1) Daren Powell WI 636 31.60 4.70 686 v Aus at St George's 2008
20 (-2) Chaminda Vaas SL 632 27.54 4.18 861 v SA at Colombo (RPS) 2004
All-rounders
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points HS Rating
1 ( - ) Shakib Al Hasan Ban 403! 403 v Zim at Dhaka 2009
2 ( - ) Jacob Oram NZ 368 383 v WI at Queenstown 2008
3 ( - ) Andrew Flintoff Eng 366 544 v SL at The Rose Bowl 2004
4 ( - ) Shoaib Malik Pak 340 402 v WI at Brisbane 2005
5 (+1) Chris Gayle WI 336 511 v Zim at Harare 2003
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