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NEWS ICC Champions Trophy 2006>Champions Trophy debacle costs India one spot in rankings 07th Nov 2006 22.04 IST By Agencies India have slipped one spot to fifth in the latest ICC ODI rankings following their lacklustre display in the Champions Trophy tournament. The Indians were tied fourth with Pakistan on 110 but were pipped to fifth after points were calculated to three decimals.
South Africa and New Zealand , who advanced to third place after their semi-final appearance in Champions Trophy, are also separated by nine points. Rahul Dravid 's side had dropped two places to fifth spot in the table after failing to reach the final of the Malaysia tri-series. Before the Champions Trophy, India were behind New Zealand and Pakistan with all three having same points but India's win against England had taken them one spot ahead of Pakistan which they have lost again now. Runners up West Indies are currently placed seventh but just seven ratings points separate them and the Kiwis. Man of the tournament Christopher Henry Gayle reaped rich rewards and climbed up to number two in ODI batting rankings, a jump of two rungs. Gayle also took the top spot in all-rounders chart leaving behind Shaun Maclean Pollock in the race. Gayle, the leading run-scorer in the tournament with 474 runs, at an average of 79.00 and a strike-rate of 92.94 runs, hit three hundreds, against Bangladesh , England and South Africa. And showing his all-round skills, he took four catches and captured eight wickets with his off-spin. These performances ensured that he won the player of the tournament award. This is the highest number of ratings points that Gayle has ever had and he is now hot on the heels of Australian Michael Hussey , who retained his position as the highest-ranked ODI batsman in the world. Hussey’s supremacy was highlighted at last week’s ICC Awards, when he picked up the ICC ODI Player of the Year Award and was also named on the ICC World ODI Team of the Year. England’s Kevin Pietersen is another big mover in the Player Rankings for batsmen. Despite his team not getting through to the knockout stages of the tournament, Pietersen has done enough to see him move up three places to a personal best of third. Pietersen and Hussey are still in a qualifying period for these rankings so they both have the potential to rise further in the coming weeks. India has, in Mahendra Dhoni , its lone entry in the top 10 list of batsmen and no representation in the bowlers' top league. Dravid's less-than-impressive show with the bat saw him being thrown out of the top 10 and the skipper lost six places to finish 15th in the batsmen's list even though teammate Dhoni managed to move up four rungs to the sixth spot. Injured Yuvraj Singh remains static at his 13th place. In the bowlers' list, offie Harbhajan Singh slipped two places and is yet the highest ranked Indian at 11th, while woefully out-of-form Irfan Pathan slid four rungs to 13th, followed by compatriot Ajit Agarkar at the next spot. Pathan also slipped a notch in the all-rounders' list and finished sixth. Also View In-Depth Coverage: ICC Champions Trophy 2006 Team Page: India Team Page: Australia | LIVE CRICKET COVERAGE NEWS ~ Gilchrist has no plans to retire after World Cup ~ Ganguly's new batting approach may cost him sixer record ~ India 'squash the Orange' in World Cup warm-up game ~ Symonds gets a new hairdo for World Cup ~ Dhoni readies himself for stand-up act at World Cup (more in NEWS) FACE-TO-FACE ~ 500-mark a possibility in World Cup: Hayden ~ Minnows add charm to World Cup: Dravid (more in FACE-TO-FACE) COLUMNS ~ Will Sri Lanka replicate 1996 World Cup success? (more in COLUMNS) OFF-THE-FIELD ~ Ganguly again the darling of corporate world ~ Ganguly roped in as brand ambassador of Puma (more in OFF-THE-FIELD) PLAYERS Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble (more PLAYERS) TEAMS India, South Africa, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Australia, West Indies, Zimbabwe, England, New Zealand, Bangladesh, Kenya, Holland | 
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