Pakistan recovers to put pressure on New Zealand
Just seven points separates fourth position from seventh in the Reliance Mobile ICC ODI ChampionshipRao Ifthikar breaks back into top 20 bowlers as Younus and Jayawardena return to form with the bat
Pakistan has regained sixth position on the Reliance Mobile ICC ODI Championship table and reduced the gap between it and New Zealand to just one ratings point following a strong finish to the ODI series against Sri Lanka, which concluded in Colombo yesterday.
After losing the first three matches of the five-ODI series, Younus Khan's team had slipped to seventh position in the rankings some four points behind Sri Lanka. But victory in the final two matches, played at R Premadasa Stadium in the capital, means Pakistan regains sixth position and is now closing in on the Black Caps one place above.
After the first three matches in Dambulla Sri Lanka had risen to 108 ratings points and would have jumped to fourth position in the rankings, ahead of New Zealand and England, if it had completed the clean sweep. But defeat in the Colombo leg of the series has consigned the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 finalist to seventh position.
Mind you, with just seven ratings points separating fourth and seventh positions there is plenty of scope for change especially as we are entering a busy time for ODI cricket culminating in the ICC Champions Trophy, which runs from 22 September until 5 October.
Further down the list, Bangladesh has closed the gap between it and the West Indies by another point after winning the first of five ODIs against Zimbabwe. As a result, Prosper Utseya's team has slipped a further point back in 11th position and is now two ratings points adrift of 10th-placed Ireland.
Meanwhile, Rao Ifthikar Anjum has broken back into the top 20 of the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers with an impressive performance against Sri Lanka. The 28-year-old fast bowler took 5-30 in the fourth ODI and averaged just 11.60 at a strike-rate of 3.82 for the two matches of the series he played in.
That performance has lifted him up five places to 18th position and is now just four places behind his career highest of 14th place, a ranking he enjoyed in August of 2008.
Also in the bowlers' list, Bangladesh slow left-armer Shakib Al Hasan has gained another place and now sits in second position in the rankings behind Sri Lanka's pace man Nuwan Kulasekara, who tops the rankings.
The news is just as good for Pakistan's captain Younus Khan as it is for Ifthikar. Younus has jumped up five places in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen and is poised to make a return to the top 20, sitting as he does now in 21st position.
Younus was the leading scorer of the series with a total of 244 runs in five innings at an average of 48.80. The series was a successful one, too, for another experienced campaigner, Mahela Jayawardena of Sri Lanka, whose 218 runs included a match-winning century in Dambulla as Sri Lanka successfully chased 289 to win in the third ODI, thus wrapping up the series for the home side in the process.
Jayawardena has gained six places in the latest rankings and has moved up to 30th position in the list that is still headed by the Indian duo of Mahendra Singh Dhoni in first place and Yuvraj Singh in second spot. The news is not so good for Jayawardena's team-mate Sanath Jayasuriya, however, as the veteran opener slips out of the top 20 after some disappointing performances of late.
In the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for ODI all-rounders Shahid Afridi has dropped out of the top five to seventh position, making way for Australia's James Hopes and South Africa's Jacques Kallis. The all-rounders' list is still headed by Shakib followed by Andrew Flintoff of England in second position and New Zealand's Jacob Oram third.
Reliance Mobile ICC ODI Championship (as of 10 August, after the Sri Lanka v Pakistan series and first ODI between Zimbabwe and Bangladesh)
| Rank | Team | Rating |
| 1 | South Africa | 127 |
| 2 | India | 126 |
| 3 | Australia | 119 |
| 4 | England | 111 |
| 5 | New Zealand | 110 |
| 6 | Pakistan | 109 |
| 7 | Sri Lanka | 104 |
| 8 | West Indies | 78 |
| 9 | Bangladesh | 55 |
| 10 | Ireland | 27 |
| 11 | Zimbabwe | 25 |
| 12 | Kenya | 0 |
ICC One-Day Rankings (as of 10 August, after the Sri Lanka v Pakistan series and first ODI between Zimbabwe and Bangladesh)
| Batsmen | |||||
| Rank | Player | Team | Points | Ave | HS Rating |
| 1 | MS Dhoni | Ind | 828! | 50.18 | 828 v WI at St Lucia 2009 |
| 2 | Yuvraj Singh | Ind | 784 | 37.73 | 794 v WI at Kingston 2009 |
| 3 | Mike Hussey | Aus | 767 | 54.65 | 863 v NZ at Perth 2007 |
| 4 | S Chanderpaul | WI | 759 | 41.66 | 793 v Eng at Guyana 2009 |
| 5 | Chris Gayle | WI | 756 | 39.94 | 804 v Aus at Mumbai 2006 |
| 6 | AB de Villiers | SA | 752 | 38.88 | 753 v Aus at Port Elizabeth 2009 |
| 7 | Virender Sehwag | Ind | 732 | 34.32 | 774 v NZ at Auckland 2003 |
| 8 | Graeme Smith | SA | 731 | 40.39 | 792 v Ban at Dhaka 2008 |
| 9 | Herschelle Gibbs | SA | 712 | 36.37 | 750 v SL at Durban 2003 |
| 10 | Jacques Kallis | SA | 707 | 45.30 | 816 v WI at Johannesburg 2004 |
| Bowlers | ||||||
| Rank | Player | Team | Points | Ave | Econ | HS Rating |
| 1 | N Kulasekara | SL | 730 | 26.50 | 4.44 | 749 v Pak at Lahore 2009 |
| 2 | Shakib Al Hasan | Ban | 703! | 30.30 | 4.00 | 703 v Zim at Bulawayo 2009 |
| 3 | Kyle Mills | NZ | 697 | 26.40 | 4.68 | 723 v Aus at Melbourne 2009 |
| 4 | Daniel Vettori | NZ | 694 | 32.43 | 4.17 | 790 v Eng at Christchurch 2008 |
| 5 | M Muralidaran | SL | 680 | 22.81 | 3.90 | 913 v NZ at Sharjah 2002 |
| 6 | Nathan Bracken | Aus | 677 | 23.91 | 4.41 | 806 v SL at St George's 2007 |
| 7 | Mitchell Johnson | Aus | 672 | 24.59 | 4.85 | 726 v Ban at Darwin 2008 |
| 8 | Stuart Broad | Eng | 660 | 26.75 | 5.07 | 701 v SA at Trent Bridge 2008 |
| 9 | M Mortaza | Ban | 658 | 29.82 | 4.57 | 678 v Ind at Port-of-Spain 2007 |
| 10 | Andrew Flintoff | Eng | 656 | 24.38 | 4.39 | 755 v Ban at Dhaka 2003 |
| All-Rounders | ||||
| Rank | Player | Team | Points | HS Rating |
| 1 | Shakib Al Hasan | Ban | 424! | 424 v Zim at Bulawayo 2009 |
| 2 | Andrew Flintoff | Eng | 346 | 544 v SL at The Rose Bowl 2004 |
| 3 | Jacob Oram | NZ | 335 | 383 v WI at Queenstown 2008 |
| 4 | James Hopes | Aus | 333 | 340 v Pak at Dubai 2009 |
| 5 | Jacques Kallis | SA | 332 | 505 v WI at Bridgetown 2001 |
*Indicates a provisional rating
For information on the ICC Player Rankings go to: www.reliancemobileiccrankings.com.
