Mendis, Habhajan and Malinga improve rankings; ICC Cricket World Cup champions India close gap on Australia ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 runner-up Sri Lanka’s Tillekeratne Dilshan has risen to his career best ranking to date in the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsman. The 34-year-old all-rounder is occupying third position on the rankings after scoring the most runs in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 – a total of 500. ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 winners Sachin Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir have also moved up the rankings, with India’s opener rising one place to ninth while Gambhir's hard-fought 97 runs against Sri Lanka in the final of the ICC Cricket World Cup yesterday has seen the 29-year-old rise four places to occupy 10th. Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara still occupies fourth place while India's Yuvraj Singh, the ICC Player of the Tournament for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 remains in joint 17th place with Australia captain Ricky Ponting, the latter having risen six places. Meanwhile, Netherlands Ryan ten Doeschate continues to be the only Associate player in the top 20 of the batting rankings with the Dutchman sitting in 16th place. Other batsmen moving in the right direction include England's Jonathan Trott in fifth (up by four places), South Africa's Jacques Kallis in 12th (up by three places), Ross Taylor in 19th (up by one place), Upul Tharanga in 26 (up three places), Mahela Jayawardena in 28th (up by three places), India's Suresh Raina in 31st place (up by four places), Misbah-ul-Haq in 36th place (up by three places) and Jesse Ryder in 42nd (up by 13 places)South Africa's duo of Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers continue to occupy the top two positions.In the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers, Sri Lanka's Anjantha Mendis is one of the big movers with the spin bowler rising nine places to take eighth place, a position he last occupied in 2009.Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi has climbed five places to now sit in ninth, which India's World Cup winning spinner Harbhajan Singh has risen two places to now sit 18th on the list. Pakistan's Saeed Ajmal has rocketed up nine places to now occupy 20th place, while just outside the top 20 Sri Lanka's Lasith Malinga has risen three places and is now sitting in joint 25th position with South Africa's Johan Botha. Pakistan's Mohammed Hafeez has gained 25 places to now sit in 36th position, while Yuvraj has climbed 13 places to sit 40th and his team mate Ashish Nehra occupies 48th after a rise of 10 place. Sri Lanka's Nuwan Kulasekara has slipped five places to now sit 10th while Australia's Mitchell Johnson has also dropped down the rankings to now sit 13th alongside England's Stuart Broad. New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori leads Zimbabwe's Ray Price by 23 ratings points with England's Graeme Swann in third and South Africa's Dale Steyn in fourth. The only change in the top five of the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI all-rounders is the drop of South Africa's Jacques Kallis to fifth and the ascension of Yuvraj to fourth place. Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan leads the field with Shane Watson of Australia in second, Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi in third.ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 champions India have closed the gap between itself and current Reliance ICC ODI Championship table-toppers Australia at the conclusion of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011. India are now just seven points behind Australia, albeit Australia have the chance to increase its lead of over the 2011 champions as it has a three-match series against Bangladesh starting next week.ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 runners-up Sri Lanka has remained in third place but with an increase in ratings points of two, taking Kumar Sangakkara's side to 118 points, while South Africa sits in fourth.
