Dhoni Moves Up To Sixth In ODI Rankings

Dubai, Sept 19: Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni moved up the order to the sixth position, while senior batsman Rahul Dravid signed off his illustrious one-day career at 118th spot, according to the latest ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen on Sunday. 

Dhoni improved three places after finishing the England ODI series as the leading run-getter with 236 runs at an average of a little under 79.

Virat Kohli was the second highest-ranked India batsmen after dropping three places to ninth position. He scored 194 runs in the series.

Dravid, who retired from ODI cricket scoring 128 runs in his final series against England, improved three places in the batting chart.

The former skipper's low ranking is due to the fact that he didn't play ODI cricket since India's victory over the West Indies in a league match of the ICC Champions Trophy 2009 in South Africa.

Among other Indians, left-handed batsman Suresh Raina was the second leading run-getter with 198 runs, which has helped him jump five places to the 30th spot.

England's Jonathan Trott, who won the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for ICC Cricketer of the Year award last week, improved his rating by six points to leapfrog Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara into fourth position.

Trott, who scored 111 runs from four matches in the ODI series, and Dhoni will be aiming to further climb the ladder when they go head to head in the five-ODI series which starts in Hyderabad October 14.

Ravi Bopara's effort of 197 runs in the series also earned him good rating points as he jumped 14 places to the 64th spot.

Pakistan's Mohammad Hafeez and Younus Khan also moved up the ladder after their good performance in the series against Zimbabwe which concluded with a 3-0 win for the visitors.

Hafeez, who won the player of the series award, and former captain Younus have both jumped 11 places each which have left them in 37th and 40th positions, respectively.

Umar Akmal also gained one place and is Pakistan's highest-ranked batsman in 17th spot.

Rival captains Misbah-ul-Haq and Brendan Taylor have also improved their rankings. Misbah is in 28th position after gaining one place while Taylor has vaulted four places to 34th position.

In the ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers, England's Graeme Swann strengthened his position earning 25 ratings position for his eight wickets in the series, which puts him on a career-best 750 ratings points.

India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who took six wickets against England, jumped a massive 34 places to 41st spot, while medium pacer Praveen Kumar moved four places to 21st position.

Also rising in the rankings are England's fast bowler James Anderson in 11th (up by two places) and Mohammad Hafeez in 23rd (up by three places).

Bowlers losing ground include Saeed Ajmal of Pakistan in seventh (down by three places), England fast bowler Stuart Broad in 26th (down by four places) and Munaf Patel of India in 33rd (down by six places).

Among the all-rounders, Pakistan's Mohammad Hafeez broke into the top three for the first time in his career. Hafeez scored 188 runs and took two wickets against Zimbabwe to climb three places to third spot.Australia's Shane Watson heads the table, while Shakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh was in the second position.