India move up to third in ODI Championship table

Dubai, Sep 11 (UNI) Pakistan's three-wicket loss to England in the fourth ODI pushed India up one place to third and swapped places with Inzamam-ul-Haq's side in the latest LG ICC ODI Championship table.

India now has 113 points, two points ahead of the South Asian rivals but ten points behind second-placed South Africa and 18 behind leaders and world champions Australia.

If India wins their next four matches in Malaysia tri-series against Australia and West Indies starting tomorrow, it will lift its rating to 119 points, closing the gap on South Africa in the process. Pakistan now has the same number of points as fifth-placed New Zealand but is ranked higher than the Black Caps when the ratings are recalculated to three decimal places.

The two successive wins against Pakistan following a run of eight matches without a victory have not been enough to lift England up the Championship table -- it is still in eighth position -- but they have seen Andrew Strauss's side draw level with the West Indies, directly above it.

Meanwhile, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (fourth), Yuvraj Singh (ninth), Rahul Dravid (12th) and Virender Sehwag (19th) retain their places in the Adam Gilchrist-led batting chart which saw no change in the top 10 batsmen rankings.

Sachin Tendulkar, who has fully recovered from shoulder injury and is part of the Indian team for Malaysia tri-series, is placed 23rd.

West Indian Ramnaresh Sarwan is second behind Gilchrist and Aussie captain Ricky Ponting following Sarwan in third place in the batting list.

Among the bowlers, South Africa's Shaun Pollock still heads the chart followed by Shane Bond of New Zealand and comeback man Glenn McGrath of Australia, while Irfan Pathan lies in seventh spot, spinner Harbhajan Singh is joint ninth (along with South Africa's Makhaya Ntini) and Ajit Agarkar shares 11th spot with Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka.

LG ICC ODI Championship table: 1. Australia (131); 2. South Africa (123); 3. India (113); 4. Pakistan (111); 5. New Zealand (111); 6. Sri Lanka (107); 7. West Indies (99); 8. England (99); 9. Zimbabwe (35); 10. Bangladesh (33); 11. Kenya (0) LG ICC ODI Player Rankings (Top ten): 1. Adam Gilchrist, Aus (809); 2. Ramnaresh Sarwan, West Indies (790); 3. Ricky Ponting, Aus (785); 4. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, India (779); 5. Andrew Symonds, Aus (774); 6. Mike Hussey, Aus (762); 7. Graeme Smith, South Africa (759); 8. Kevin Pietersen, England (748); 9. Yuvraj Singh, India (735); 10. Kumar Sangakkara, Sri Lanka (723) LG ICC Bowlers list (Top ten): 1. Shaun Pollock, SA (858); 2. Shane Bond, NZ (762); 3. Glenn McGrath, Aus (756); 4. Daniel Vettori, NZ (750); 5. Brett Lee, Aus (732); 6. Nathan Bracken, Aus (723); 7. Irfan Pathan, Ind (713); 8. Ian Bradshaw, WI (708); 9. Makhaya Ntini, SA (686); Harbhajan Singh, Ind (686) LG ICC All-rounders list: 1. Shaun Pollock, SA (462); 2. Chris Gayle, WI (404); 3. Andrew Flintoff, Eng (387); 4. Andrew Symonds, Aus (378); 5. Irfan Pathan, Ind (361) UNI XC PDS SSC1242