Dhoni retains top position as ODI batsman

With two superb knocks at Nagpur and Delhi against Australia, India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has retained his top position in the ICC Rankings for ODI batsmen.

However, his deputy Yuvraj Singh has slipped to third position while Australia vice-captain Mike Hussey has jumped three places to take second spot. Hussey had trailed Yuvraj by 12 points before the start of the series but scores of 73, 53 and 81 not out have helped him earn 38 points and he is now just eight points away from breaking into the 800-point mark.

The other batsman to make an upward movement is India's Gautam Gambhir who has climbed two places to 14th position but his team-mate Virender Sehwag has dropped two places to 12th spot.

In the rankings for ODI bowlers, New Zealand fast bowler Kyle Mills who leads Sri Lanka's Nuwan Kulasekara by 10 points with Vettori another two points behind in third place. Australia fast bowler Mitchell Johnson has slipped two places to 13th while India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has dropped one place to share the 19th spot with New Zealand's Jacob Oram.

Outside the top 20, India fast bowlers Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma and Ashish Nehra are heading in the right direction. Kumar has moved to 22nd position after rising three places, Sharma has jumped four places to 30th spot and Nehra has shot 22 places to 70th.

Meanwhile, the fight for the coveted number-one position is getting interesting with second-placed India narrowing the gap with leader Australia to just one ratings point after taking a 2-1 lead in the seven-match ODI series.

India, which had trailed Australia by four ratings points before the start of the series, can go ahead of Australia if it wins the fourth ODI at Mohali this afternoon. An Australian victory will mean Ricky Pontings side will open the gap to three ratings points.

-- (UNI) -- 02SPD10.xml

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