By IANS
Dubai : South African captain Graeme Smith has dislodged Sachin Tendulkar from the top spot of the International Cricket Council (ICC)’s one-day batting rankings after a stellar performance in the series against Bangladesh.
Smith, who before the start of the series was in third place behind Tendulkar and Australian captain Ricky Ponting, played a career best innings in Dhaka that concluded Friday.
His performance earned him 39 points that saw Tendulkar’s stay on the top of the batting charts end in less than two weeks.
With only 22 ratings points separating top placed Smith from third-placed Ponting, the positions are unlikely to change for another couple of months before Australia take on West Indies in the five-match ODI staring in Kingston from 21 June.
The South African batsman A.B. de Villiers, the second highest run getter in the series, also achieved his career-best ranking of nine, breaking into the top 10 for the first time.
Herschelle Gibbs, however, failed to retain his place and dropped out of the top-10 after losing three places.
In the ICC player rankings for ODI bowlers, South Africa’s Andre Nel achieved a career-best ranking to occupy sixth position. The 30-year-old pacer claimed seven wickets in the series to jump 10 places.
Bangladesh’s left-arm slow bowler Abdur Razzak gained two places to rise to 16th position while Mashrafe Mortaza jumped three places to 26th spot.