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| Daniel Vettori © Gallo Images |
Spinners dominate the latest ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers with New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori regaining the top spot and no less than four bowlers achieving career-best rankings.
Vettori, who slipped to second behind Sri Lanka fast bowler
Nuwan Kulasekara after the home series against India in March this
year, has reclaimed the number-one spot after a good series against
Pakistan in which he not only inspired the Black Caps to a 2-1
series win but also picked up five wickets in the process.
Vettori's efforts have helped him leapfrog his teammate Kyle
Mills who has slipped four places to fifth in the latest rankings,
which were released on Thursday.
The spin quartet of Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan,
Zimbabwe's Ray Price, Nathan Hauritz of Australia and Pakistan's
Saeed Ajmal have achieved the best rankings of their careers to
date following good performances in their respective series.
Shakib has moved up two places to second position after a good
series against Zimbabwe, Price has jumped three places to third
after a productive series against South Africa, Hauritz has vaulted
seven places to 17th spot after a successful series against India
while Pakistan's Saeed Ajmal has rocketed 17 places to 20th spot
after the series against New Zealand in Abu Dhabi.
Harbhajan Singh and Shahid Afridi have also returned to the top
ten after good performances against Australia and New Zealand.
Harbhajan has joined Afridi in eighth spot after picking up eight
wickets against Australia while Afridi has improved by three places
after his five wickets against the Black Caps.
Among the fast bowlers, New Zealand's Jacob Oram has climbed
eight places to 11th, Australia's Doug Bollinger has rocketed 52
places to 69th position, but New Zealand's Shane Bond, Australia
duo of Mitchell Johnson and Brett Lee, and India pair of Praveen
Kumar and Ishant Sharma have failed to defend their positions.
In the ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen, Australia captain
Ricky Ponting has continued his upward movement and after a
productive series in India in which he scored 267 runs, he has
risen to fourth after improving his ranking by two places.
Mike Hussey, who was the most successful batsman in India with
313 runs, has strengthened his second position. Along with India
captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who contributed 285 runs, he is now
the only other batsman with more than 800 ratings points.
Other batsmen to move in the right direction are South Africa's
JP Duminy in 22nd spot (up by 11 places), Australia's Shane Watson,
Cameron White and Zimbabwe's Brendon Taylor.
In the ICC Player Rankings for ODI all-rounders, Watson has
achieved a -career-best second ranking after his
player-of-the-series performance against India in which he scored
256 runs and took ten wickets. Besides his 26th place in the batting
table, the Queenslander sits in 32nd position in the bowling chart.
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