Dhoni - #1 batsman in the world
....according to the ICC.
....according to the ICC.
India's Mahendra Singh Dhoni has moved to the top of the LG ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen.
Dhoni was in second spot behind Ricky Ponting before the two-match ODI series against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi that finished on Wednesday night.
But his 59 in India's series-levelling win in the second match has been enough to move him one rating point ahead of the Australian captain.
It caps a remarkably rapid rise for the 24 year-old from Bihar because he only made his ODI debut in December 2004 but his statistics provide compelling support for his position on top of the world.
In 42 matches he averages 52.76 with two hundreds and eight fifties and, equally significantly, he has made those runs at an awesome strike-rate of 103 runs per hundred balls.
Dhoni is one of three India batsmen in the top 10 places of the LG ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen with captain Rahul Dravid ninth (up two places) and Yuvraj Singh (10th) also featuring.
Further down the list are the injured Sachin Tendulkar in joint 21st spot with Sri Lanka's Sanath Jayasuriya and Virender Sehwag, whose return to form with 73 on Wednesday has seen him move back up four places to joint 24th position, alongside England's Andrew Strauss.
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Better than Gilchrist,I think he's more consistent and solid playing at the 3 spot, rather than coming lower in the order at the end of the match and trying to slog everything.