GAYLE MOVES UP RANKINGS

GAYLE MOVES UP TO NO. 2 IN ODI BATTING RANKINGS, IS TOP ALL ROUNDER

by ICC

 

 

West Indian all-rounder Chris Gayle has moved up to second in the latest LG ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen following an outstanding tournament for the 27-year-old Jamaican at the ICC Champions Trophy in India recently.

 

The opening batsman was comfortably the leading run-scorer in the tournament with 474 runs at an average of 79.00 and a strike-rate of 92.94 runs per hundred balls. He hit three hundreds, against Bangladesh, England and South Africa. And showing his all-round skills, he took four catches and captured eight wickets with his off-spin. These performances ensured that he won the player of the tournament award.

 

This is the highest number of ratings points that Gayle has ever had and he is now hot on the heels of Australian Mike Hussey, who retained his position as the highest-ranked ODI batsman in the world. Hussey's supremacy was highlighted at last week's ICC Awards, presented by Hyundai, when he picked up the ICC ODI Player of the Year Award and was also named on the ICC World ODI Team of the Year. His LG Player Rating has slightly improved from the start of the tournament to a new personal best.

 

England's Kevin Pietersen is another big mover in the LG Player Rankings for batsmen. Despite his team not getting through to the knock-out stages of the tournament, Pietersen has done enough to see him move up three places to a personal best of third. Pietersen and Hussey are still in a qualifying period for these rankings so they both have the potential to rise further in the coming weeks.

 

TOP ALL-ROUNDER

 

Gayle has also taken over as the top all-rounder in the one-day form of the game, leap-frogging South Africa's Shaun Pollock. Those two are well clear of Sri Lanka's Sanath Jayasuriya in third and Andrew Flintoff of England a further place back. It is the first time Gayle has topped the all-rounders since 2004.

 

With the Australians winning the tournament, their position at the top of the LG ICC ODI Championship is strengthened. They are now nine points clear of South Africa in second place, who are in turn nine points ahead of New Zealand in third. The Proteas and the Black Caps were both beaten semi-finalists at the ICC Champions Trophy. The beaten finalists West Indies are currently placed seventh in the world but it should be noted that just seven ratings points separate New Zealand and the Windies with Pakistan placed in fourth, India fifth and Sri Lanka sixth.

 

For bowlers, Glenn McGrath reminded the world that he is still very much a force to be reckoned with and has moved up four places to number two in the LG ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers. He now has Pollock in his sights but despite losing the all-rounder top spot, the South African is still ranked as the best one-day bowler in the world.

 

McGrath has taken over from Brett Lee as the highest-ranked Australian ODI bowler. With Nathan Bracken also making moves, the Aussies now have three bowlers in the top five as well as four batsmen in the top seven. It is no surprise, therefore, that they are ranked as the best ODI side in the world at present.

 

MS Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh remain the top-ranked batsman and bowler for India (sixth and 11th respectively), while Irfan Pathan is their top ranked all-rounder (sixth). Another mover was New Zealander Daniel Vettori, who is now the tenth ranked one-day all-rounder in the world, a personal best.