"Sir" Ravindra Jadeja claims No.1 spot in ICC rankings

"Sir" Jadeja tops ODI bowlers

Ravindra Jadeja, the Indian allrounder, has topped the ICC bowlers' rankings in ODIs, level with West Indies spinner Sunil Narine, after jumping four places.

Jadeja is the first India bowler to top the rankings since Anil Kumble, who topped the table in 1996, and is the fourth India bowler after Kapil Dev, Maninder Singh and Kumble to be ranked No. 1.

Jadeja took five wickets from five matches in the ODI series against Zimbabwe at an average of 34.40 and was fourth in the list of leading wicket-takers. His team-mate Amit Mishra rocketed 47 places to 32nd spot after claiming 18 wickets in the series.

Sri Lanka batsman Kumar Sangakkara equalled his career-high ranking in the batting list and is ranked third after Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers. Sangakkara, the leading run-scorer in the ODI series against South Africa with 372 runs at an average of 93, was last ranked third in 2005. Tillakaratne Dilshan gained two places and is now at the sixth spot. He scored 273 runs in the series and was second in the list of leading run-scorers.

Meanwhile, India strengthened their position at the top of the ODI rankings after their 5-0 win even though it earned them just one rating point. Australia are ranked second, nine rating points behind India. Sri Lanka and South Africa swapped places and Sri Lanka are now ranked fourth, six rating points ahead of South Africa.

The updated rankings were released after India's 5-0 series win against Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka's 4-1 series win against South Africa at home.