Ponting eyes top spot in ICC rankings, Tigers aim for another upse

Dubai, Apr 22: Australian skipper Ricky Ponting would look to recapture the top spot in LG ICC ODI Rankings for batsmen, which he lost to Indian stumper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, when the World Champions start their one-day campaign against Bangladesh in Chittagong tomorrow.

On the other hand, the minnows will be looking to repeat one of the most famous days in their cricket history -- when the Tigers caused a massive upset beating the World Champion Australian team at Cardiff last June -- during the three-match series.

Any optimism Bangladesh feel about the task ahead may be based not only on memories of that famous previous victory but also its own recent ODI form.

The last time Habibul Bashar's side appeared in coloured clothing it beat Kenya 4-0 in March, successes that secured their place in October's Champions Trophy in India, and before that it took one match off Sri Lanka in a three-game series.

Australia's latest ODI action saw it fail to defend 434 against South Africa at The Wanderers and the fact is its players are now nearing the end of a sustained period on the road.

They could be forgiven for allowing thoughts of home and a long break to come to slip onto their collective agenda and that may be another potential reason for Bangladesh to believe it can spring a surprise.

But the gap between the two sides is so huge that even a highly unlikely 3-0 win for the minnows will not cause much harm to Ricky Ponting's team except for a few rating points but loss for Bangladesh would mean dropping one valuable rating point to 23.

The rankings reward sides that punch above their weight and beat opponents above them in the table and so if Bangladesh wins one of the three matches its rating will improve by two points to 26 while Australia's will drop to 130.

Two wins for Bangladesh will see its rating rise by six points to 30 and a 3-0 success will lift it to 33 rating points. However, even one win for the home side in the three matches will be a major achievement. Australia has five players in the top 11 batting spots led by Ponting in second position, Adam Gilchrist (third), Andrew Symonds (fourth), Michael Hussey (sixth) and Michael Clarke (11th). All these players are capable of turning an ODI on its head on their own.

Bangladesh's highest-placed ODI batsman in the LG ICC Player Rankings is Mohammad Ashraful in 62nd spot but the Australians will be all too aware of what he can do. It was Ashraful's brilliant 100 in Cardiff that inspired his side to that famous win last year.

The touring side is without its leading bowler in the Rankings for bowlers, Glenn McGrath, as the veteran seamer (second) opted out of the trip for personal reasons.

But despite his absence Australia still have plenty of quality back-up including Brett Lee (sixth) and Nathan Bracken (eighth).

Bangladesh's best-placed bowler is left-arm spinner Mohammad Rafique, in 28th spot and just short of his best-ever haul of rating points.

Symonds is Australia's leading all-rounder in fourth place behind Shaun Pollock of South Africa, England's Andrew Flintoff and Irfan Pathan of India. Pollock tops the bowling table ahead of McGrath and Pathan.

LG ICC ODI Rankings: Teams: 1. Australia(132), 2. South Africa (119), 3. India (116), 4.

Pakistan (114), 5. New Zealand (113), 6. Sri Lanka (105), 7. England (103), 8. West Indies (89), 9. Zimbabwe (42), 10 Bangladesh (24), 11. Kenya (7) Batsmen: 1. Mahendra S Dhoni(Ind), 2. Ricky Ponting (Aus), 3. Adam Gilchrist (Aus), 4. Andrew Symonds (Aus), 5 Graeme Smith (SA), 6.

Mike Hussey (Aus), 7. Kevin Pietersen (Eng), 8. K C Sangakkara (SL), 9. Rahul Dravid (Ind), 10. Yuvraj Singh (Ind) Bowlers: 1. Shaun Pollock (SA), 2. Glenn McGrath (Aus), 3. Irfan Pathan (Ind), 4. Shane Bond (NZ), 5. Daniel Vettori (NZ), 6. Brett Lee (Aus), 7. M Muralidaran (SL), 8. Nathan Bracken (Aus), 9.

Chaminda Vaas (SL), 10. Harbhajan Singh (Ind) All-rounders: 1. Shaun Pollock (SA), 2. Andrew Flintoff (Eng), 3.

Irfan Pathan (Ind), 4. Andrew Symonds (Aus), 5. Shoaib Malik (Pak)

UNI