Tendulkar back among top-20 in ICC rankings

DUBAI, Feb 1: With the World Cup just around the corner, Sachin Tendulkar sounded warning to his opponents by moving back into the list of top-20 ODI batsmen in the LG-ICC Player rankings released on Thursday. Tendulkar, who hit his 41st hundred in the fourth and final match of the One-Day International series against West Indies on Wednesday, climbed four places to be joint 18th alongside Sri Lanka's Upul Tharanga. He amassed 191 runs from the four matches.
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The Mumbai batsman had slipped out of the elite club in April last year but briefly regained his place during a tri-series against Australia and the West Indies in Malaysia and the ICC Champions Trophy, and then dropped out again by the end of the latter tournament in November 2006. Wicket-keeper batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the highest-placed Indian, occupying fourth place after gaining two spots to be behind leaders Mike Hussey of Australia, England's Kevin Pietersen and Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting in that order. India now boast four players inside the top 20 batting slots with captain Rahul Dravid moving three places up in 12th spot and Yuvraj Singh lying 20th. Although Yuvraj has slipped one place, the good news is that he is playing again after being sidelined since October with a serious knee injury.
India's 3-1 success against the West Indies was however, not enough to lift it up from sixth place in the ODI Team Championship table. India is four rating points away from third-placed Pakistan and there is still plenty of scope for upward movement when they line up against Sri Lanka in another four-match series later this month. Ten of the 11 teams on the table, with the exception of the West Indies, will be in action over the next few weeks, the chances for significant changes in the standings before the ICC Cricket World Cup starts in March.
Australia is nine rating points clear of South Africa at the top of the table and is yet to lose a match during its ongoing tri-series against England and New Zealand.
And while India has four batsmen inside the top 20 places of the player listings, Australia can boast the same number inside the top six positions.
Besides Hussey and Ponting, Adam Gilchrist is fifth and Andrew Symonds is sixth while yet another Australian player Michael Clarke, occupies 10th spot among the batsmen.
Harbhajan Singh is India's top-ranked bowler in 13th spot in the ODI bowlers' rankings. Seamer Ajit Agarkar is four places lower and the recently recalled Irfan Pathan is just outside the top 20, in 21st position. Top three places on the list were, however, unchanged with South African Shaun Pollock, Australian Glenn McGrath and Daniel Vettori of New Zealand occupying the top three places.
courtesy:timeofindia