India moves to third in ICC ODI rankings

India's resounding success against England in the first two one-dayers has propelled them to the third spot, while run-machine Yuvraj Singh's consecutive centuries, has catapulted him to sixth in the latest ICC ODI rankings issued on Tuesday.

India routed England in first match by 158 runs and won the second match by 54 runs to move two places up the rung in the team rankings.

Yuvraj, who scored unbeaten 138 in the first match and 118 in the second, gained 11 places to attain his career-best ranking of sixth place among batsmen.

The two defeats cost English dearly as they slumped to the sixth spot. Having lost three ratings points, England now sits just behind New Zealand by a fraction of a point.

With five matches still remaining, India will hope to continue the rampaging form and grab the second position by the end of the ODI series.

Bolstered by their 3-0 series win against the West Indies in Abu Dhabi, Pakistan has moved up two places to fourth, while Australia is still the table toppers, some 12 ratings points clear of South Africa, who are just four points ahead of India.

In-form Gautam Gambhir also progressed four spots and now sits just behind Pakistan's Younus Khan in 22nd place among batsmen.

However, Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni continues to be the numero uno, with Australia's Michael Hussey and Graeme Smith of South Africa grabbing the second and third place respectively.

West Indies' Chris Gayle, who scored two typically entertaining hundreds in the three-match series against Pakistan, gained six places into fifth position while ICC Cricketer of the Year Shivnarine Chanderpaul is just ahead of him having jumped two places to fourth.

Among the bowlers, Sohail Tanvir has broken into the top 10 for the first time in his career after scalping seven Pakistani wickets at an average of 15.14. Tanvir has moved 12 places to seventh place.

England's Andrew Flintoff lost five places to 13th position after taking just one wicket in the first two matches of the series at a cost of 116 runs.

However, Flintoff was finely place in the second spot in the all-rounders list which is headed by New Zealand's Jacob Oram. West Indies skipper Chris Gayle has also moved up three places to be back into the top five, thanks to his all-rounder feat against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi.