Shakib climbs

Now the second best ODI bowler
Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan jumped one place to become the second best one-day bowler when the International Cricket Council (ICC) released the latest ODI rankings in Dubai yesterday.
The left-hander with 711 rating points edged out Zimbabwean Ray Price who slipped to third position with 696 points.
There was however no change in the ICC Player Rankings all-rounders with Shakib still leading the field.
West Indies fast bowlers Darren Sammy, Dwayne Bravo and Kemar Roach have all achieved career-best rankings in the rankings.
Sammy, Bravo and Roach shared 23 wickets between them in the series against Zimbabwe which the West Indies won 4-1 and have been rewarded with big jumps in the latest rankings at the end of New Zealand-Australia and West Indies-Zimbabwe ODI series which concluded on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
Sammy, who took eight wickets in the series, vaulted 37 places to share 20th spot with another Bangladesh left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak, Bravo jumped 20 places to occupy 24th spot after picking up seven wickets while Roach has rocketed 23 places to sit in 80th position after snapping up eight wickets in the series.
Australia fast bowler Mitchell Johnson, who won the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy after being named as the 2009 ICC cricketer-of-the-year at the ICC Awards in Johannesburg, has also returned to the top 10 after a stellar performance against New Zealand.
The 28-year-old Queens lander took 12 wickets in the series against New Zealand which has helped him lift four places to 10th position. Johnson now becomes Australia’s highest-ranked bowler after Doug Bollinger slipped two places to 14th spot after managing just four wickets in five ODIs.
New Zealand’s Shane Bond, who bagged nine wickets against Australia, has swapped places with fellow New Zealander Kyle Mills who missed the series with shoulder and knee injuries. A player misses one per cent of his ratings for every match he misses, and as such, fifth-placed Bond has taken a 17-point lead over Mills and is just seven points behind fourth-placed Nuwan Kulasekara of Sri Lanka.
In the ODI batsmen’s rankings, West Indies captain Chris Gayle has continued his upward movement and has leapfrogged India great Sachin Tendulkar into fourth position.
Gayle, who was in seventh position at the start of the month, was in sublime form in the series in which he scored 273 runs, including three half-centuries.
New Zealand’s middle-order batsman Ross Taylor has also returned to the top 20 after improving his ranking by four places. He is now in 18th position after scoring 177 runs in the series.
Blackcap Scott Styris, who was the pick of the batsmen in the series with 199 runs, has climbed three places to 37th position while second-ranked Michael Hussey has narrowed the gap with India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni to just eight points after finishing as the second most successful batsman with 198 runs.
The batsmen slipping in the table are Shivnarine Chanderpaul of the West Indies and Brendon McCullum of New Zealand. Both have dropped one place each to ninth and 19th positions, respectively.
Meanwhile, the positions in the ICC ODI Championship at the annual cut-off date of April 1 have also been confirmed with Australia finishing number-one and India claiming second place, 11 ratings points behind.
For their achievements, Australia will be presented with a cheque of 175,000 dollars while India will collect 75,000 dollars. This will be in addition to 175,000 dollars which the India side will collect for claiming the top spot in the ICC Test Championship. South Africa, who finished second on the Test table, will receive 75,000 dollars. The cheques presentation ceremony will take place in due course.

Courtesy of The Daily Star