Men in Blue headed by India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni now has Australian Michael Hussey breathing down his neck for the top slot in the ODI rankings. Teammate Sachin Tendulkar lost his fourth place to West Indies Captain Chris Gayle in the latest ICC chart announced on Monday.

In-form Hussey narrowed the gap with top ranked Dhoni to just eight points after finishing as the second most successful batsman with 198 runs in the series against New Zealand.

Meanwhile Gayle, who was in seventh position at the start of the month, was in sublime form in the recently concluded ODI series against Zimbabwe in which he scored 273 runs, including three half-centuries.

Tendulkar is now at fifth place with a total of 819 points.

In the ODI Team rankings, India has maintained its number two position with 122 points, while Australia still rules the ratings with 133 points.

The second place in the ODI Championship means India wins $75,000 in addition to $175,000 which it won for finishing as the number-one Test side.

In the bowling ratings, India’s spinner Harbhajan Singh continued to be at seventh position with 645 points.

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Indian opening batsman Gautam Gambhir will miss the current tri-series going on in Sri Lanka. Gambhir is said to have picked up groin injury during BCCI’s corporate trophy that concluded recently.

Indian skipper MS Dhoni said “From what I know he picked the injury during the Corporate tourney and aggravated it during a batting session.” Gambhir will miss the Compaq Cup in Sri Lanka as he has been advised 10 days rest. He is returning to India and will be replaced by Virat Kohli. Gambhir is also expected to report at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bangalore for assessment and rehabilitation.

India is going in for the Compaq Cup without the two usual openers Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir. It is to be noted that Sehwag is already out due to shoulder injury and will miss the Champions trophy too. Now Gambhir is expected to return to the team soon as Champions Trophy is beginning on September 26.

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Former Indian Cricket Captain Rahul Dravid makes a return to India’s ODI team for the tri-series in Sri Lanka and for the Champions Trophy next month. Rahul Dravid replaced Rohit Sharma, who managed 15 runs in three ODI innings in the West Indies and 43 runs in three innings against major opposition in the World Twenty20.

Also the selectors did not want to take risk including Virender Sehwag, who is yet to recover fully from his shoulder injury. He was not expected to make it to the Sri Lanka tri-series and now has been left out for the Champions Trophy as well.

Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid who have made a come back to the ODI squad

Master blaster Sachin Tendulkar, who opted out of the West Indies series, makes a comeback. Suresh Raina, who was out because of a hairline fracture of the thumb, also returns. Amit Mishra makes it into the ODI squad, replacing Pragyan Ojha as the back-up spinner to Harbhajan Singh. Dinesh Karthik and Abhishek Nayar have retained their places.

India’s ODI squad: Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni (capt/wk), Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Ashish Nehra, RP Singh, Amit Mishra, Dinesh Karthik, and Abhishek Nayar

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Hundreds of cricket fans celebrated Indian Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s 28th birthday on Tuesday by cutting cake at Mecon Stadium, situated near his residence, and wished him success and more explosive knocks.

Wishing him more success in his life and a wonderful happy birthday!!

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The struggling form of Indian captain – and most versatile batsman – and how to compensate for it? Can we expect Dhoni return to his form against England?

India’s strength is that every one of their players is capable of winning a match through individual brilliance. Even the loss of one of the world’s most dangerous openers was overcome by a middle-order batsman making the transition to the top of the order seamlessly. They have tried to fortify that advantage with flexibility by attempting to shuffle the middle order according to how the openers fare.

Between Rohit Sharma and Gautam Gambhir, Rohit has been the more aggressive batsman and so India have sent in MS Dhoni at No. 3 should Gambhir fall first to steady one end while Rohit attacks at the other. And if Rohit should be dismissed first, like against West Indies, Suresh Raina will take up the attacking role at No. 3. It’s an excellent plan, for a fluid batting order keeps the opposition guessing and batsmen versatile enough to slot into different roles are valuable in the Twenty20 format. The problem, however, is Dhoni’s loss of form.

Dhoni has batted in various positions from No. 2 to 8 and, when in form, he’s played different roles – from sheet anchor to aggressor – successfully. He even considered opening in the World Twenty20 before offering Rohit the job in Virender Sehwag’s absence. In recent times, Dhoni has taken up the responsibility of guiding the innings, holding one end up, scoring at a run-a-ball, letting the other shot-makers attack before joining them.

India have had to manage without a significant contribution from Dhoni so far in this tournament. He struggled during the IPL and carried that indifferent form to England, scoring 6, 9*, 26 and 14 during the warm-ups and group matches. Dhoni batted at No. 3 during those matches ahead of more in-form batsmen.

Teams:
England: PD Collingwood, JM Anderson, RS Bopara, SCJ Broad, JS Foster, RWT Key, AD Mascarenhas, EJG Morgan, GR Napier, KP Pietersen, AU Rashid, OA Shah, RJ Sidebottom, GP Swann, LJ Wright

India: MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, G Gambhir, Harbhajan Singh, RA Jadeja, KD Karthik, Z Khan, P Kumar, PP Ojha, IK Pathan, YK Pathan, SK Raina, I Sharma, RG Sharma, RP Singh

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