Champions Trophy exploits lift Jadeja to third in ICC ODI bowler's rankings

Ravindra Jadeja, who was the leading wicket-taker in the Champions Trophy, has moved up to third in the ODI bowler’s rankings, according to a statement from the ICC. Jadeja took two wickets in the final to give him 12 for the tournament, earning him the Golden Ball trophy. He also made an unbeaten 33 to pick up man-of-the-match honours. His combined efforts with bat and ball also moved him up to a career best third in the latest allrounder rankings, trailing Shakib Al Hasan and Mohammad Hafeez. While he didn’t get much of an opportunity to bat in the tournament with India’s openers doing much of the heavy lifting, Jadeja’s contributions against South Africa and in the final were enough to bump him up three places to 52nd in the batting rankings. [caption id=“attachment_901687” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Ravindra Jadeja is on the rise as a bowler. AP[/caption] While Sunil Narine is still the no 1 ranked bowler, followed by Saeed Ajmal, offspinner R Ashwin made a comeback to the top ten, jumping six places to ninth after taking three wickets in the final. James Tredwell was among the biggest climbers, picking up 15 spots to be ranked 28th, while Angelo Mathews in 22nd (up by three), Stuart Broad in 30th (up by two), Bhuvaneshwar Kumar in 49th (up by three) and Ishant Sharma in 51st (up by five) also made gains. There wasn’t much movement in the batting rankings, as the top three - AB de Villiers, Hashim Amla and Virat Kohli - stayed the same. However, Jonathan Trott, who was the second leading runscorer in the Champions Trophy with 229 runs, moved up a place to fourth. Meanwhile Shikhar Dhawan, who led allcomers with 363 runs, a record for India in the Champions Trophy, jumped 21 places to a career-best 29th. He was named the Player of the Tournament in addition to picking up the the Golden Bat trophy for scoring the most runs. In the team rankings, India’s unbeaten run to the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy allowed it to create some separation between the rest of the teams at the top of the table. India now has a lead of 10 points over England, who they beat in a rain-affected final yesterday. India ended the tournament with 123 points, having started with 119, according to an ICC release. India waltzed through Group A, comfortably beating South Africa, West Indies and Pakistan. India then thumped Sri Lanka in the semi-final before squeaking past England in a 20-20 game. England are level with third-placed Australia on 113 points, but Alastair Cook’s side is ranked above Michael Clarke’s team by a fraction of a point. South Africa lost a point after losing to England in the semi-final but stay in fourth with 111 points, followed by Sri Lanka with 108 points.