India at fourth spot in ODI ranking, Tendulkar holds second position

Dubai, Jun 13 (UNI) India occupies the fourth spot in the latest ICC ODI rankings with master blaster Sachin Tendulkar at the second position among batsmen.

Currently on same ratings points as New Zealand (113) but behind the Black Caps when ratings are calculated beyond the decimal point, India can take a two-point lead over Daniel Vettori's side if they win the tri-nation final tomorrow.

Fresh from its victory over New Zealand in the Test series which helped Michael Vaughan's side move up to third in the Reliance Mobile ICC Test Championship, England has the opportunity to rise to as high as fourth in the ODI list if it sweeps the series, irrespective of tomoorow's tri-series final between India and Pakistan, pans out.

However, if the clean-sweep result is reversed then Paul Collingwood's side will drop from 105 to 101 ratings points to give the West Indies a sniff of seventh spot when its ODI series starts against Australia on 24 June.

At the same time, a 5-0 series win will see New Zealand rocket to 118 points to reduce the gap with front-runners South Africa and Australia which sit on 127 ratings points each.

If England wins the series 3-2 it will leapfrog Sri Lanka into sixth place while New Zealand will drop to fourth behind India, which will also be its position if Daniel Vettori's side wins the series 3-2 and India wins the tri-series final.

At the top of the table, South Africa leads Australia by a fraction of a point.

Among the batsmen, Indian maestro Sachin Tendulkar (777 pts) trails South African opener Grame Smith (792 pts).

Tendulkar is followed by Australian captain Ricky Ponting.

Pakistan batsman Mohammad Yousuf and Shivnarain Chanderpaul complete the top five.

Team India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who is at the 10th spot, is the highest ranked Indian after Tendulkar. His deputy Yuvraj Singh is at the 15th position.

In the bowlers' list, temparamental off-spinner Harbhajan Singh (18th) is the only Indian in the top 20.

Irfan Pathan in 38th while Sreesanth (49th), RP Singh (66th), Piyush Chawla (101st) and Ishant Sharma (106th) will be hoping for an upward movement in their rankings.

Daniel Vettori leads the charts with Nathan Bracken and former Kiwi tearway pacer Shane Bond second and third respectively.

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