Dravid lone Indian in CEAT International Cricketer of the Year race

New Delhi, Aug 5 (UNI) Rahul Dravid is the lone Indian in the five-horse race for the CEAT International Cricketer of the Year honour which has Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene at the top of the chart.

Dravid, with 27 points, lies a distant five in the overall player's list, headed by Jayawardene (62). Offie Muttiah Muralitharan (46) -- winner of the International Cricketer of the Year Award twice in succession -- occupies the second spot and Kumar Sangakkara (30) completes the Lanka dominance, sharing the third spot with West Indian Ramnaresh Sarwan.

In the batsmen's chart, it's Jayawardene again topping the table (62) and the Sangakkara-Sarwan pair is a distant joint second with 30 points apiece. Dravid(27) hangs on to the fifth slot, followed by exciting England bat Kevin Pietersen (26), while Indian opener Wasim Jaffar (22) ranks 10th.

Among the bowlers, Anil Kumble, at the third spot, is the lone Indian representation in the top five. At thetop, Muralitharan (46) is far ahead of nearest rival Steve Harmison (26), who is followed by Kumble(21), Monty Panesar and Jerome Taylor(22).

In the latest update, the Sri Lankan team tops the rankings for the CEAT International Cricket Team for the year 2006-2007, with 27 points.

They are closely trailed by the West Indies (18), while Team India is third position with 13 points.

Inspite of continuously being on the top for the past five years and winning the CEAT International Cricket Team title for the year 2006, Australia have failed to make it to the top five and there's no Australian player in the Top five in the CEAT International Player of the Year 2007, rankings.

Meanwhile, for the first time CEAT Domestic Cricket Ratings have been announced. Ramesh Powar (Mumbai) was declared the Domestic Cricketer of the Year, S Badrinath (TN) adjudged Domestic Batsman of the Year and Praveen Kumar (UP) has been named as the Domestic Bowler of the Year. Praveen Kumar (UP) was also declared the Most Promising Youngster with an overall tally of 50 points .

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