CRICKET--Ratings

[sgokulprathap]

Dhoni on top of the world
Mahendra Singh Dhoni's half century against Pakistan in the second one-dayer in Abu Dhabi has propelled him to the top spot in the latest ICC one-day international rankings.

Dhoni, who was second placed behind Australian captain Ricky Ponting before the two-match ODI series in the desert venue, hit 59 in India's series-levelling win in the second match.

However, the 1-1 honour in the series meant that India and Pakistan remain unchanged in the team championship table, on third and fourth places respectively.

The 24-year-old Jharkhand player, who made his ODI debut in December 2004, has made a remarkably rapid rise with his statistics providing compelling support for his position on top of the ODI charts released on Thursday.

In 42 matches, he averages 52.76 with two hundreds and eight fifties and, equally significantly, he has made those runs at an awesome strike-rate of 103 runs per hundred balls.

Dhoni is one of three India batsmen in the top 10 places with captain Rahul Dravid ninth (up two places) and Yuvraj Singh on 10th.

Besides, injured Sachin Tendulkar is on joint 21st spot with Sri Lanka's Sanath Jayasuriya and Virender Sehwag, whose return to form with 73 has seen him move back up four places to joint 24th position, alongside England's Andrew Strauss.

Irfan Pathan remains India's top-ranked bowler after moving up one spot to third in the list with only Shaun Pollock of South Africa and Australia's Glenn McGrath ahead of him.

Pathan remains in third position in the LG ICC Player Rankings for ODI all-rounders behind Pollock and England's Andrew Flintoff but he now has his best-ever haul of rating points.

Another India player in the bowling top 10 is spinner Harbhajan Singh (10th), who slipped three spots as a result of his performances in Abu Dhabi.

However, several other Indian bowlers are on the way up the list.

Ajit Agarkar is up four spots to 21st position, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth rises 12 places to be joint 54th (alongside Bangladesh's Manjural Islam Rana) and Ramesh Powar has broken into the top 100, up 19 places to 82nd in the LG ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers.

Pakistan have three batsmen in the top 25 with captain Inzamam-ul-Haq and Mohammad Yousuf in joint 15th position and Shoaib Malik in 23rd spot.

Younis Khan, whose unbeaten 71 guided his side to victory on Tuesday, is up eight places to joint 44th alongside Sri Lanka's Russel Arnold.

The leading Pakistan bowler in the bowling department is Naved-ul-Hasan, who remains unchanged in 12th position while Shoaib Malik is in fifth spot in the all-rounder list.

[selvakumar]

so,

DHONI IS THE REAL STAR NOW.. unlike some placebo

[sgokulprathap]

S. Ofcourse.

[Arthi]

More About Mahendra Singh Dhoni

In the fifth ODI he hit 148 against Pakistan
In his 22nd ODI he scord 183* against srilanka- the highest by a keeper in ODIS
The unbeaten 183 is the highest ODI score by a batsmen in the second innings
The winning 6 at Jaipur aggregated his match tally of fours and sixes to 120 runs(10 sixes and 15 Fours) a new ODI record.
Dhoni's average of 52.76 puts him second place behind Michael Bevan(53.58)
His career strike rate of 103.00 finds in fourth place of the ODI charts.

In just 17 months his debut, he has emerged as the No: 1 batsmen in the ICC ODI Rankings

[Arthi]

It's the way MAHI way...

What they said

" I can easily pick him as one of the players to be watched in the 2007 world cup. He is unorthodox but very efficient. He is difficult to bowl to because he has the ability to even hit the good balls with a jab shot. He is safe behind the wickets abd can be compared to Adam Gilchrist thought the Australian has proved himself as the best after years in commission

-- Inzamam-ul-Huq( After Indias tour of Pakistan)

In all my years of watching cricket tyhe only other player who strode the crease with greater swagger is the incomparable Viv Richards. Like the West Indian, Great Dhoni has nothing but contempt for the bowlers and that shows in the way he wants to dominate and show who is the boss at outset
-- Sunil Gavaskar

[Vivek]

Dhoni has some problem with backfoot play which south africa exposed. otherwise is a great player. i would rate him equal or better than sehwag. that we may see in near future.

[sgokulprathap]

Gilchrist replaces Dhoni on top of ODI rankings

Australia's Adam Gilchrist edged ahead of Mahendra Singh Dhoni of India to recapture the top spot in the LG ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen.

Gilchrist leapfrogged his team-mate and captain Ricky Ponting as well as Dhoni thanks to his performances in the three-match series in Bangladesh that finished on Friday.

The left-hander now holds a slender advantage of just three rating points over Dhoni, who himself assumed the top position from Ponting for the first time less than two weeks ago.

Ponting's modest series in Bangladesh has seen him slip to third in the list but Gilchrist, by contrast, is now just short of his highest-ever tally of rating points.

Australia now has an incredible four players in the top five of the LG ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen with Gilchrist and Ponting joined by Andrew Symonds and Michael Hussey in fourth and fifth spots respectively. Symonds has his best-ever haul of rating points while Hussey has entered the top five for the first time.

1 Adam Gilchrist AUS

2 Mahendra Dhoni IND

3 Ricky Ponting AUS

4 Andrew Symonds AUS

5 Mike Hussey AUS

6 Graeme Smith SA

7 Kevin Pietersen ENG

8 Kumar Sangakkara SL

9 Rahul Dravid IND

10 Yuvraj Singh IND

[sgokulprathap]

Pathan second in bowlers' rankings

With the ball, India's Irfan Pathan is now in second place in the LG ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers behind Shaun Pollock of South Africa while Australia's highest-ranked player is Glenn McGrath, absent from the Bangladesh series for personal reasons, in fourth position.

1 Shaun Pollock SA

2 Irfan Pathan IND

3 Shane Bond NZ

4 Glenn McGrath AUS

5 Daniel Vettori NZ

6 Brett Lee AUS

7 Nathan Bracken AUS

8 Muttiah Muralitharan SL

9 Chaminda Vaas SL

10 Harbhajan Singh IND