Dhoni earns No. 1 ranking

zdestiny · Senior Member Joined: 12 Apr 2006 Posts: 55

Mahendra Singh Dhoni's half century against Pakistan in the second ODI in Abu Dhabi has propelled him to the top spot in the latest ICC ODI rankings.

The wicket-keeper has displaced Australian Captain Ricky Ponting by just a single point after his knock of 52 in the match.The Jharkhand-born player is currently averaging 76.33 in the year from 12 matches, having scored 458 runs with five half centuries and a top score of 96.

Dhoni is the second Indian player after Sachin Tendulkar to take the top spot in the one-day rankings.Dhoni, who was second behind Ponting before the two ODIs in Abu Dhabi, is one of three Indian batsmen in the top 10. Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj Singh are the other two.

"He's taken just a year-and-half to achieve this after making his debut in 2004. To go past the biggest names in cricket so soon is remarkable. I cannot express how happy I am at the moment," said Chanchal Bhattacharya, Dhoni's school coach. The Jharkhanad wicketkeeper has numerous records to his name. His average of 219 in the recent one-day internationals in Pakistan is the highest by a wicketkeeper in a one-day series.

Perhaps his biggest feat is that he's maintained an average of 52.76 with a strike rate of 100. He is the only batsman amongst current players to have managed that consistently. He's the fastest to score 1,000 runs, a feat he achieved in just 33 matches. His score of 183 against Sri Lanka is also the highest by a wicketkeeper in ODIs.

Dhoni's success with the bat has given India the luxury of playing five fast bowlers in both forms of the game. Source : NDTV

To see the entire raking visit http://www.sidlothian.com/cricket/default.asp?playertype=batsmen&matchtype=ODI