By IANS,
Dubai : Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan slipped out of the top 10 bowlers’ list in the ICC rankings for ODIs for the first time in over a decade.
Muralitharan, who skipped the series against the West Indies, has now slipped below Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi who occupies 10th position.
Muralitharan, who leads the rankings for Test bowlers, was last out of the top-10 ODI bowlers rankings in July 1997. The iconic spinner will now have a wait for a couple of months before attempting a return when the Asia Cup gets underway in Pakistan on June 24.
Shahid Afridi has entered the top-10 for the first time in his career after a successful series against Bangladesh in which he bagged 12 wickets. The 28-year-old spinner climbed 11 positions.
West Indies’ Jerome Taylor has consolidated his position in the top 10 moveing up two places to eighth while Dwayne Bravo gains 19 places to sit in 27th spot.
The bowlers list is headed by New Zealand’s Daniel Vettori, ahead of Nathan Bracken of Australia.
Among batsmen, Shivnarine Chanderpaul climbed five spots to share fifth place with Australia’s Matthew Hayden.
South Africa captain Graeme Smith heads the batting list, ahead of India’s Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting.
In the ODI Championship table, Sri Lanka drops two ratings points after its 2-0 defeat against the West Indies while Pakistan holds firm in fifth place but gains one ratings point for its 5-0 victory against Bangladesh.
Sri Lanka shares sixth place with England on 105 points but remains ahead of Paul Collingwood’s side when the ratings are calculated to decimal points. Pakistan has narrowed the gap with fourth-placed India to three ratings points.
Reliance Mobile ICC ODI Batsmen rankings
Rank Player Team
1 Graeme Smith SA
2 S.R.Tendulkar Ind
3 Ricky Ponting Aus
4 Mohd Yousuf Pak
5 S.Chanderpaul WI
6 Matthew Hayden Aus
7 Mike Hussey Aus
8 Kevin Pietersen Eng
9 AB de Villiers SA
10 MS Dhoni Ind
Bowling list
Rank Player Team
1 Daniel Vettori NZ
2 Nathan Bracken Aus
3 Shane Bond NZ
4 Chaminda Vaas SL
5 Kyle Mills NZ
6 Andre Nel SA
7 Daren Powell WI
8 Jerome Taylor WI
9 Brett Lee Aus
10 Shahid Afridi Pak
ODI Team rankings
Rank Team Rating
1 South Africa 127
2 Australia 127
3 New Zealand 113
4 India 113
5 Pakistan 110
6 Sri Lanka 105
7 England 105
8 West Indies 99
9 Bangladesh 47
10 Ireland 20
11 Zimbabwe 18
12 Kenya 0