Dubai: India’s Ravindra Jadeja retained the top spot as ODI bowler along with Sunil Narine of West Indies, even as Australia fast bowler Mitchell Johnson was back in the top 10 of the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI Bowlers after he jumped six places to eighth in the latest update.
The latest rankings were released on Tuesday after Australia beat England by 49 runs in the fifth and final ODI at the Rose Bowl, Southampton, on Monday night to claim the series 2-1.
Johnson picked up five wickets in the series against England and returned to the top 10 for the first time since October 2011, when he was ranked fourth.
Outside the top 20, Boyd Rankin in 25th (up by 21), George Dockrell in 34th (up by five), Majid Haq in 56th (up by six), Kevin O'Brien in 63rd (up by three) and Ravi Bopara in 66th (up by nine) are the other bowlers to move in the right direction.
The Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI Bowlers is still jointly headed by Ravindra Jadeja and Sunil Narine, with Pakistan’s Saeed Ajmal in third place.
Meanwhile, Australia’s George Bailey, who is currently going through the qualification period,* has entered the top 10 of the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI Batsmen for the first time ever.
Bailey jumped five places to ninth, after scoring 173 runs in the series against England. He has been on an upward curve since the one-off ODI against Scotland earlier in September, when he had moved up four places to 14th.
Shane Watson, player of the match for his knock of 143 in the fifth and final ODI, ended the series with a run tally of 187 and is now back in the top 10 of the batting table after moving up one place to tenth. Watson was last ranked in the top ten in June this year, in ninth position.
Watson’s effort with the bat and his three wickets in the series also helped him move up two places to third in the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI All-rounders, still headed by Mohammad Hafeez, with Shakib Al Hasan in second place.
Meanwhile, Australia captain Michael Clarke, who was named the player of the series for scoring 202 runs, has also moved up a place to 11th on the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI Batsmen.
England captain Eoin Morgan was the only batsman from his side to move upwards and is now in 18th spot (up by two).
The Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI Batsmen is still headed by South Africa’s Hashim Amla with his captain AB de Villiers in second place and Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara in third position.