India can get back to fourth in LG ICC ODI Championship by ICC Media Release

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Player:	CH Gayle, GC Smith, KJ O'Brien, KP Pietersen, RT Ponting, SM Pollock, M Ntini, A Nel, AJ Hall, AB Agarkar, RR Watson, JH Kallis, MEK Hussey, HH Gibbs, AB de Villiers, S Chanderpaul, MS Dhoni, RS Dravid
Event:	Friendship Cup 2007, India in British Isles 2007, Pakistan in Scotland 2007, South Africa in Ireland 2007, West Indies in England 2007

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DateLine: 21st June 2007

 

West Indies can overtake England; Dhoni eyes third spot in batting rankings; SA batsmen can move into top ten; India bowlers to make impression

 

India can jump two places to fourth in the LG ICC ODI Championship if it completes a clean sweep of ODI victories over Ireland, South Africa and Pakistan over the next two weeks or so.

 

Currently lying in sixth, Rahul Dravid’s side will leap-frog Sri Lanka and Pakistan if it wins each of its five matches during the tour of Ireland and Scotland. That would put it on 111 rating points, just two behind New Zealand in third position and one ahead of Pakistan, who would drop to 110 rating points.

 

However, a poor series for India could see it drop below England into seventh position, which would be the lowest it has been in the ODI Championship since April 2005.

 

With just 14 rating points separating the Black Caps in third position and the West Indies in eighth, there are opportunities coming up for several other teams to make their impression on the LG ICC ODI Championship.

 

The West Indies will overtake its English host if it wins 2-0 or 3-0 while England will have its sights set on sixth spot with a good showing there. Indeed, England has an opportunity of rising further still as it is set to play seven ODIs against India in August and September.

 

Australia still tops the log, six rating points clear of South Africa in second spot but Jacques Kallis’s men can reduce that gap to four by beating Ireland once and India three times in Belfast.

 

If the Irish can pull off victories at home to India and South Africa, it will gain 14 rating points, putting real pressure on Bangladesh in ninth spot.

 

And Scotland can follow in Ireland’s footsteps and win promotion to the main LG ICC ODI Championship table if it beats Pakistan in Edinburgh on 1 July. Currently, top of the Associates ODI table, Ryan Watson’s side has a win percentage in excess of 60 per cent and thus by the regulations of the rankings will graduate to the main table if it beats a Full Member.

 

The full Associates ODI rankings are available at: http://www.icc-cricket.com/icc/odi/associates.html.

 

Meanwhile, in his first series as vice-captain of India Mahendra Singh Dhoni will want to keep up his recent run of fine form, and a good showing in the trip to Belfast and Glasgow would put him ahead of Mike Hussey and into third spot in the LG ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen.

 

There is also the chance for Kallis to get back into the top ten while there will also be opportunities for the likes of Herschelle Gibbs, AB de Villiers, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Chris Gayle and Rahul Dravid to make further advances in the top 20.

 

De Villiers of South Africa is now ranked in 18th position, having been 77th just one year ago so he will want to make sure that trend continues while his absent captain Graeme Smith will not have the chance to improve on his position of seventh as he is still recovering from knee surgery.

 

Ireland’s top ranked batsman is Kevin O’Brien in 82nd spot and the ODIs against India and South Africa will give him the chance to improve further on that. Top spot is still occupied by Kevin Pietersen of England with Australia’s Ricky Ponting in second.

 

After a relatively disappointing ICC Cricket World Cup for Makhaya Ntini, which saw him drop from third to seventh in the LG ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers, the 29-year-old will be looking for a return to his former successes.

 

Ntini’s team-mates Andre Nel and Andrew Hall are with him in the top 12 and will lead what looks like a strong South African bowling attack.

 

For India, the cupboard is somewhat barer, their top rated bowler in the series is the talented Ajit Agarkar – in 16th position. It is a chance for upcoming Indian bowlers to make their impression.

 

South Africa’s Shaun Pollock is still top of the bowling rankings but he is not making the trip to Ireland as he is still recovering from minor foot surgery. He recently played as a specialist batsman in the Afro-Asian Cup series in India. With none of the top six ODI bowlers in action over the coming weeks, however, Pollock’s position at the top is safe for now.

 

Upcoming ODI fixtures:

 

 

23 June – Ireland v India, Belfast

 

24 June ­– Ireland v South Africa, Belfast

 

26 June – India v South Africa, Belfast

 

29 June ­– India v South Africa, Belfast

 

1 July – England v West Indies, Lord’s

 

1 July – Scotland v Pakistan, Edinburgh

 

1 July – India v South Africa, Belfast

 

3 July – India v Pakistan, Glasgow

 

4 July – England v West Indies, Birmingham

 

7 July – England v West Indies, Nottingham

 

 

LG ICC ODI Championship (as of 21 June, before India, South Africa, Ireland series and England v West Indies series)

 

Rank Team Rating

 

 

1 Australia 130

 

2 South Africa 124

 

3 New Zealand 113

 

4 Pakistan 111

 

5 Sri Lanka 110

 

6 India 107

 

7 England 104

 

8 West Indies 99

 

9 Bangladesh 45

 

10 Ireland 29

 

11 Zimbabwe 22

 

12 Kenya 0

 

(Developed by David Kendix)

 

LG ICC One-Day Rankings (as of 21 June, ahead of India, South Africa, Ireland series and England v West Indies series)

 

Batsmen

 

Rank Player Team Points Ave HS Ranking

 

1 Kevin Pietersen Eng 827 56.27 834 v Aus at Antigua 2007

 

2 Ricky Ponting Aus 799 43.31 805 v SA at Johannesburg 2006

 

3 Mike Hussey Aus 766 58.90 863 v NZ at Perth 2007

 

4 Mahendra Dhoni Ind 756 47.66 806 v WI at Kingston 2006

 

5= Matthew Hayden Aus 746 43.99 854 v Ind at Centurion 2003

 

R.R.Sarwan WI 746 44.55 798 v Ind at St Kitts 2006

 

7 Graeme Smith SA 740 39.29 784 v Ind at Kolkata 2005

 

8 Adam Gilchrist Aus 729 36.00 820 v SL at Dambulla 2004

 

9 Michael Clarke Aus 728 45.60 749 v SA at Centurion 2006

 

10 Andrew Symonds Aus 726 39.46 774 v Ban at Fatullah 2006

 

11 Jacques Kallis SA 723 45.47 816 v WI at Johannesburg 2004

 

12 M.Jayawardene SL 719 33.86 737 v WI at Colombo (RPS) 2001

 

13 S.T.Jayasuriya SL 712 32.95 838 v Ban at Pietermaritzburg 2003

 

14 H.H.Gibbs SA 709 36.20 750 v SL at Durban 2003

 

15 Rahul Dravid Ind 708 40.11 754 v WI at Kingston 2006

 

16 Chris Gayle WI 706 37.97 804 v Aus at Mumbai 2006

 

17 K.C.Sangakkara SL 702 36.18 760 v Ind at Rajkot 2007

 

18 AB de Villiers SA 688 34.42 706 v Eng at Bridgetown 2007

 

19 S.Chanderpaul WI 682 38.05 754 v SA at Durban 1999

 

20 Mhd Yousuf Pak 681 41.02 777 v SA at Rawalpindi 2003

 

 

Bowlers

 

Rank Player Team Points Ave Econ HS Ranking

 

1 Shaun Pollock SA 894 24.02 3.71 920 v Pak at Johannesburg 2007

 

2 Nathan Bracken Aus 794 21.36 4.34 806 v SL at St George's 2007

 

3 Shane Bond NZ 790 19.32 4.20 811 v SA at St George's 2007

 

4 Chaminda Vaas SL 753 26.79 4.18 861 v SA at Colombo (RPS) 2004

 

5 M.Muralidaran SL 741 22.68 3.84 913 v NZ at Sharjah 2002

 

6 Daniel Vettori NZ 697 32.94 4.22 767 v Eng at Perth 2007

 

7 Makhaya Ntini SA 694 23.59 4.41 782 v WI at Cape Town 2004

 

8 Brett Lee Aus 686 22.65 4.69 853 v SA at Melbourne 2006

 

9 Abdur Razzaq Ban 673 22.61 3.92 711 v Eng at Bridgetown 2007

 

10 Andre Nel SA 662 27.61 4.63 666 v Eng at Bridgetown 2007

 

11 Brad Hogg Aus 656 27.10 4.49 661 v SA at St Lucia 2007

 

12 Andrew Hall SA 640 25.70 4.50 655 v Eng at Bridgetown 2007

 

13= Andrew Flintoff Eng 635 25.88 4.38 755 v Ban at Dhaka 2003

 

Lasith Malinga SL 635* 24.94 4.82 647 v Aus at Bridgetown 2007

 

15 Harbhajan Singh Ind 631 32.29 4.14 735 v WI at Bridgetown 2002

 

16 Ajit Agarkar Ind 629 27.55 5.03 676 v WI at Kuala Lumpur 2006

 

17 Shahid Afridi Pak 619 35.26 4.60 622 v SL at Abu Dhabi 2007

 

18 Mhd Rafiq Ban 617 37.90 4.43 650 v Zim at Bogra 2006

 

19 Jacob Oram NZ 613 30.58 4.52 766 v Aus at The Oval 2004

 

20 Corey Collymore WI 606 35.22 4.30 644 v SA at Port Elizabeth 2004

 

 

All-rounders

 

Rank Player Team Points HS Ranking

 

1 Shaun Pollock SA 496 496 v ASI at Chennai 2007

 

2 Jacques Kallis SA 396 505 v WI at Bridgetown 2001

 

3 Chris Gayle WI 381 511 v Zim at Harare 2003

 

4 Andrew Flintoff Eng 373 544 v SL at The Rose Bowl 2004

 

5 S.T.Jayasuriya SL 341 463 v Pak at Lahore 1997

 

*Indicates a provisional rating

 

For more information go to http://www.icc-cricket.com/icc/rankings/lg.html

 

For details on the Associate ODI rankings go to: http://www.icc-cricket.com/icc/odi/associates.html