Graeme Smith displaces Tendulkar from ICC ODI's top spot

South Africa captain Graeme Smith has snatched top spot of the LG ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen after displacing India’s Sachin Tendulkar following his magnificent performance in the series against Bangladesh that concluded in Dhaka on Friday.

Smith required a career-best rating to grab the coveted spot after starting the series on 753 points and in third place behind Tendulkar and Australia’s Ricky Ponting.

However, his series effort of 199 runs not only won him the Player of the Series award but also earned him 39 ratings points which were enough for him to leapfrog his two closest rivals into top spot.

Smith’s top place in the ODI rankings is backed up by his 14th place in the Test rankings, which is evident of his fine form. Smith’s team will now take on India for the three-Test series starting in Chennai on 26 March.

Tendulkar’s reign at the top of the batting charts lasted for just less than two weeks. The 35-year-old little master from India had stormed to the top of the batting charts following his match-winning performances in the recent tri-series finals against Australia.

Tendulkar had scored 117 not out and 91 in Sydney and Brisbane respectively to push Ponting into second place.

With only 22 ratings points separating top placed Smith from third-placed Ponting, the positions are unlikely to change for another couple of months before Australia goes head-to-head with the West Indies in the five-match ODI staring in Kingston from 21 June.

AB de Villiers also achieved his career-best ranking and broke into the top 10 for the first time. De Villiers jumped six places to ninth position after finishing as the second leading run-getter in the series with 109 runs for which he earned 27 ratings points.

Herschelle Gibbs, however, failed to retain his place and dropped out of the top 10 after losing three places. Gibbs scored 70 runs in three matches.

In the LG ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers, South Africa’s Andre Nel achieved a career-best ranking to enter the top 10 for the first time in his career. The 30-year-old pacer claimed seven wickets in the series to jump 10 places to sixth position.

Bangladesh’s left-arm slow bowler Abdur Razzak strengthened his place in the top 20 when he gained two places to rise to 16th position while Mashrafe Mortaza jumped three places to 26th spot.