With the World Cup just around the corner, the master blaster Sachin Tendulkar
sounded warning to his opponents by moving back into the list of top-20 ODI batsmen
on the LG-ICC Player ranking released today.
Tendulkar, who hit his 41st hundred in the fourth and final
match of the one-day international series against West Indies yesterday, climbed
four places to be joint 18th alongside Sri Lanka's Upul Tharanga. He amassed
191 runs from the four matches.
The Mumbai batsman had slipped out of the elite club in April
last year but briefly regained his place during a tri-series against Australia
and the West Indies in Malaysia and the ICC Champions Trophy, and then dropped
out again by the end of the latter tournament in November 2006.
Wicket-keeper batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the highest-placed
Indian, occupying fourth place after gaining two spots to be behind leaders
Mike Hussey of Australia, England's Kevin Pietersen and Aussie
skipper Ricky Ponting in that order.
India now boast four players inside the top 20 batting slots
with captain Rahul Dravid moving three places up in 12th spot and Yuvraj singh lying 20th.
Although Yuvraj has slipped one place, the good news is that
he is playing again after being sidelined since October with a serious knee
injury.
India's 3-1 success against the West Indies, however, was not
enough to lift it up from sixth place in the ODI Team Championship table.
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