Gilly replaces Dhoni at top, Pathan moves up in ICC ODI rankings

Dubai, Apr 29 (UNI) Indian stumper Mahendra Singh Dhoni's reign at the top of the LG ICC Player Rankings for batsmen ended as his Australian counterpart Adam Gilchrist edged ahead of him by three points, while Irfan Pathan moved up one place to a career-best second spot in the rankings for the bowlers.

Gilchrist leapfrogged his teammate and captain Ricky Ponting as well as Dhoni thanks to his performances in the three-match series in Bangladesh -- during which he made 108 runs in the two matches he played.

The left-hander now holds a slender three rating point advantage over Dhoni, who assumed the top position from Ponting for the first time less than two weeks ago.

Ponting's modest series in Bangladesh has seen him slip to third in the list but Gilchrist, by contrast, is now just short of his highest-ever tally of rating points.

Australia now has an incredible four players in the top five of the Rankings for ODI batsmen with Gilchrist and Ponting joined by Andrew Symonds and Michael Hussey in fourth and fifth spots respectively.

Symonds has his best-ever haul of rating points while Hussey has entered the top five for the first time. Michael Clarke, in 11th position, is another highly-placed player in the batting list while Simon Katich, in 28th spot, also has a career-high total of rating points.

With the ball, Pathan is now in second in rankings behind Shaun Pollock of South Africa while Australia's highest-ranked player is Glenn McGrath, absent from the Bangladesh series for personal reasons, in fourth position.

Brett Lee is in sixth place while, next to him, is Nathan Bracken, up one spot to seventh and now just short of his highest rating. Also on the up is left-arm spinner Bradley Hogg, the leading wicket-taker in the Bangladesh series, up five places and now into the top 20, in 17th position.

Australia's highest-ranked ODI all-rounder in the rankings is Symonds, in fourth position, behind Pollock, England's Andrew Flintoff and Pathan.

Bangladesh does not have a batsman in the top 50 places and left-arm spinner Mohammad Rafique is their top-ranked bowler, in 24th position.

Australia's 3-0 success in the series means it has retained its 13 point lead over South Africa at the top of the LG ICC ODI Championship table, with India a further three points back in third spot.

Bangladesh has dropped one rating point to 23 and remains in 10th position in the table.

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