Mahendra Singh Dhoni's match-saving knock of 76 not out in the first Test against England has helped the swashbuckling batsman break into top 50 of the latest LG ICC Rankings.
DUBAI: Indian stumper Mahendra Singh Dhoni's match-saving knock of 76 not out in the first Test against England has helped the swashbuckling batsman break into top 50 of the latest LG ICC Rankings.
The stylish right-hander, who was at the crease for more than three hours for his second best Test score, has gained four places for his valiant effort at the Lord's.
Indian pace spearhead Zaheer Khan also regained a place in the top 20 after moving up six places. He is at the 19th position following his match-haul of six wickets.
Rookie seamer RP Singh, whose overall figures of 7-117 included his first five-for in Test cricket, climbed 13 places to be at 38th slot.
However, captain Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar's failures in the match reflected on their rankings as both of them slipped a place each to be ninth and joint 17th respectively.
Veteran spinner Anil Kumble and pacer S Sreesanth also witnessed their rankings dip a bit because of their ordinary showing with the ball. Kumble dropped three places to sixth position while Sreesanth slid down one spot to 30th.
Dinesh Kaarthick's gritty 60 in the second innings lifted him to joint 70th place, up eight spots, in the batting charts.
For England, Kevin Pietersen remains their leading star after scoring his ninth Test hundred, an entertaining 134 which is also his third century in just five matches this summer.
The right-hander remains at fourth place among Test batsmen but his efforts at the Lord's earned him 29 points to leave him closer to the magical 900 point mark.
Australian captain Ricky Ponting heads the current list of batters, just clear of Pakistan's Mohammad Yousuf while Kumar Sangakkara, fresh from successive double hundreds against Bangladesh, lies at the third place.
The bowling list is still headed by Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, now on the brink of eclipsing Shane Warne's record for most Test wickets, with Makhaya Ntini of South Africa a distant second.
If India wins the series 2-0, it will rise from its current fifth position to third place, just behind England and a 1-0 series victory would elevate the visitors to fourth.
On the other side of the coin, if England wins the next two matches, that would see India drop below Pakistan and New Zealand to seventh spot with just the West Indies and Bangladesh below it on the table.
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