Shakib Al Hasan returns as No.1 ranked all-rounder in ODIs

Dubai: Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan has returned as the number-one ranked all-rounder in the latest Reliance ICC ODI Championship table after a series of strong performances in the Asia Cup which concluded in Mirpur last Thursday.

The left-hander’s 237 runs with the bat have put him in a career-best 12th position (up by 14 places). And though he has slipped one place to eighth in bowlers’ list after his six wickets, the combination of two has meant he has moved ahead of Australia’s Shane Watson in the all-rounders’ category.

Shakib earned 27 ratings points for his player of the tournament performance and regains the number one position from Australia’s stand-in captain Watson, who had leapfrogged the former Bangladesh captain after the tri-series tournament in Australia, which finished on 8 March in Adelaide.

Three West Indians – Darren Sammy, Andre Russell and Kieron Pollard – are the other players to improve their rankings in the latest Reliance ICC Player Rankings for all-rounders’ list which was updated on Monday.

Sammy, the West Indies captain, has jumped 18 places to 16th position, Russell has gained 16 places to occupy 18th spot while Pollard has broken into the top 20 for the first time in 19th position.

Apart from Shakib’s movement in the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen, India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has moved up one place to fourth while Pakistan’s Umar Akmal has returned to the top 10 in 10th position.

Batsmen outside the top 10 and heading in the right direction include Sachin Tendulkar in 27th (up by two), Tamim Iqbal in 29th (up by 10), Suresh Raina in 32nd (up by four), Pollard in 33rd (up by 17), Mohammad Hafeez in 40th (up by eight), David Warner in 43rd (up by 10).

In the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers, Pakistan’s Mohammad Hafeez gained one place and is now in fourth spot while India’s off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, Watson and Kemar Roach of the West Indies have achieved career-best rankings.

Ashwin has moved up six places to fourth position after his five wickets in three Asia Cup matches in Dhaka while Watson’s 11 wickets against the West Indies have provided him a lift of nine places which makes him his country’s second highest-ranked bowler after Mitchell Johnson in 16th position.

Kemar Roach of the West Indies has broken into the top 20 for the first time in his career. The fast bowler, along with Watson, also took 11 wickets in the series for which he has been rewarded with a jump of nine places and puts him in 17th position.

Meanwhile, Australia has dropped four ratings points after its five-match ODI series against the West Indies ended in a two-all draw in St Lucia on Sunday.

Watson’s side had entered the series on 127 ratings points and was guaranteed a number-one position in the Championship table at the 1 April cut-off date after it won the series opener in St Vincent by 64 runs.  However, the two loses, one win and a tied-match in the remaining four matches meant Australia conceded four ratings points and finished on 123 ratings points.

The West Indies, in contrast, gained seven ratings points and joined the New Zealand on 86 ratings points. However, Sammy’s side will be ranked behind the Black Caps when the ratings are calculated beyond the decimal point.

While India has retained its pre-series rating of 117 ratings points, Sri Lanka has dropped behind England in fifth position after losing all its matches in the Asia Cup. Sri Lanka had led England by three ratings points before the start of the Asia Cup but now trails by one.

Pakistan has gained one ratings point for its victories over Sri Lanka and Bangladesh (twice) while Bangladesh has been awarded five ratings points for its memorable wins against the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 finalists, India and Sri Lanka.