Dhoni slips to fifth spot in one-day rankings

India's World Cup disaster has pushed wicket-keeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni down three places to a joint fifth spot while Yuvraj Singh slipped two places to 17th in the official one-day international rankings released here Monday.

Dhoni is tied with South Africa captain Graeme Smith (739 points), who went up four places, while Yuvraj Singh has 687 points, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said.

The only consolation for India, which crashed out of the World Cup in the West Indies with two defeats in three matches, is captain Rahul Dravid, who moved up one place to be 12th with 709 points.

England's Kevin Pietersen heads the rankings for the first time in his career, and he moved up three positions to have a total of 792 points.

Pietersen, 26, pipped Australian Mike Hussey for the top spot. Hussey slipped to the third spot with 780 while his captain Ricky Ponting is in the second place with 788.

Pietersen is only the third English batsman after Marcus Trescothick and Allan Lamb to achieve the feat.

In the World Cup, Pietersen has so far scored 121 runs at an average of 60.50, including half-centuries against New Zealand and Kenya in Group C.

There has been plenty of other movement among the top 10 batsmen, with Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara (740) moving up three places to the fourth.

Australian Matthew Hayden, following his 66-ball century against South Africa in Group A, is back into the top 20, up four places to the 19th.

South African Shaun Pollock tops the bowling charts with 906 points while New Zealand pacer Shane Bond moved up five places to the second spot with 751 points.

Bond is also tied in the second place with Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, who also moved up seven places for his highest ranking for more than a year.

Harbhajan Singh (641) and Ajit Agarkar (635) are the only two Indian bowlers among the top-20, at the 13th and 16th places.

Pollock is also the top all rounder with 470 points. He is followed by West Indian Chris Gayle (421) and England's Andrew Flintoff (392).

Batsmen's rankings:

1. Kevin Pietersen (England) 792 rating points 2. Ricky Ponting (Australia) 7883. Mike Hussey (Australia) 7804. Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka) 7405. Graeme Smith (South Africa) 739 and Mahendra Dhoni (India) 7397. Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka) 7338. Chris Gayle (West Indies) 7249. Andrew Symonds (Australia) 72310. Adam Gilchrist (Australia) 713

Bowlers:

1. Shaun Pollock (South Africa) 906 rating points2. Shane Bond (New Zealand) 751 and Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka) 7514. Chaminda Vaas (Sri Lanka) 7505. Glenn McGrath (Australia) 7436. Makhaya Ntini (South Africa) 723 and Nathan Bracken (Australia) 7238. Daniel Vettori (New Zealand) 7159. Brett Lee (Australia) 71410. Ian Bradshaw (West Indies) 692

All-rounders:

1. Shaun Pollock (South Africa) 470 rating points2. Chris Gayle (West Indies) 4213. Andrew Flintoff (England) 3924. Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka) 3735. Jacques Kallis (South Africa) 370

(IANS)

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