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Pakistan’s Mohammad Yousuf and the India duo of Sachin Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh are all heading in the right direction in the International Cricket Council (ICC) One-day International (ODI) Player Rankings after performing outstandingly in the just-concluded ODI series in India.

According to an ICC media release, Yousuf, who finished as the leading run-getter in the series with 283 runs, climbs two places to sit sixth in the rankings for ODI batsmen. He has jumped 12 places in the last two series (against South Africa and India), including a rise of 10 places following a successful series against Graeme Smith’s side when he scored 286 runs.

Tendulkar may continue to break a billion hearts with his new habit of not converting 90s to add to his collection of 41 centuries, but the consolation for his fan club is another rise in the listings.

The Indian batting legend, who has been dismissed in the nervous 90s six times this year, including twice against Pakistan, was the third leading run-getter with 259 runs and climbs two places to eighth position.

Tendulkar’s series aggregate means he ends the calendar year with 1425 ODI runs from 33 matches, including 911 runs in the last three series, against England, Australia and Pakistan. Form like that has seen his ranking improve from 21st to eighth spot and only Matthew Hayden (1555 runs from 29 matches) has scored more runs in this form of the game in 2007.

Yuvraj Singh’s Player of the Series performance, with 272 runs in the five matches against Pakistan — 58, 34, 77, 53 not out and 50 — has also seen him climb the listings with the left-hander up six places to 11th position.

Elsewhere, India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni retains his 18th position while his opposite number Shoaib Malik improves one place to share 24th spot with former India captain Rahul Dravid, who did not appear in the series.

Australia captain Ricky Ponting tops the batting list and is part of an impressive 1-2-3 for the world champions as he is followed by Andrew Symonds and Hayden, the latter the winner of the ODI Player of the Year award at the ICC Awards in September.

In the ICC Rankings for ODI bowlers, there is no representation from India and Pakistan inside the top 20 places with Shahid Afridi dropping out of that group, down nine places to 24th spot. The leg-spinner shares his new position with teammate Iftikhar Anjum, who has achieved a career-best rating, and India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, who rose up six places.

India fast bowlers Zaheer Khan and Irfan Pathan take a dive in the bowlers’ rankings but Pakistan’s pace duo of Shoaib Akhtar and Umar Gul are all heading up the listing, perhaps a good omen for the visitors ahead of the three-match Test series.

Zaheer has slipped to 27th spot, down two places while Pathan drops three places to 39th position; but, on the other side of the coin Akhtar climbs 10 places to 31st place after finishing as the second leading wicket-taker in the series with seven victims. Gul is rewarded for his five wickets with a rise of seven places to 36th place.

Shaun Pollock of South Africa heads the ladder, clear of New Zealand’s Shane Bond, Nathan Bracken of Australia, and the Sri Lanka duo of left-armer Chaminda Vaas and talismanic spinner Muttiah Muralitharan.

Pollock also tops the all-rounders’ list from Chris Gayle of the West Indies and Sri Lanka’s Sanath Jayasuriya. India’s 3-2 success is enough to lift it into fourth position in the ICC ODI Championship table with Pakistan, which occupied that fourth spot ahead of the series, now dropping to sixth place, overtaken not only by India but also by Sri Lanka.

Source:Cricket News