Dhoni to lead in ODIs; Pathan, Harbhajan recalled

Mahendra Singh Dhoni Tuesday replaced Rahul Dravid as captain for the One-day International home series against Australia and Pakistan, while Irfan Pathan and Harbhajan Singh come back to the side.

Dhoni, 26, is currently leading India at the Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa. Dravid, who had opted out of the Twenty20, had made himself unavailable for the captaincy to concentrate on his batting after the recent tour of England.

Announcing a 15-member team for the first three ODIs against Australia at a press conference, cricket board secretary Niranjan Shah said here that Yuvraj Singh, who is senior to Dhoni, would be the vice-captain.

"We thought he was the best man for the job. He is a good (Twenty20) captain and it is the right time to groom him," said Dilip Vengsarkar, chairman of the selection committee.

Referring to speculation that Sachin Tendulkar had declined to lead the ODI team, he said that no one was offered the captaincy before Dhoni was finally picked.

Rohit Sharma, Ajit Agarkar and Munaf Patel, who were part of the team that recently toured England, were dropped for the first three matches.

The three ODIs will be played at Bangalore (Sep 29) Kochi (Oct 2) and Hyderabad (Oct 5).

The team for the remaining four one-dayers will be announced later.

A hard-hitting batsman who can change his game according to the situation, the Ranchi-based Dhoni has played 84 ODIs since making his debut against Bangladesh at Dhaka in 2004 and scored 2,477 runs at 44.23. In 20 Tests, he has scored 1,019 runs at 36.39.

Board president Sharad Pawar, who approved the team, endorsed the choice of Dhoni and the team as a whole.

"Anything that takes the team forward should be welcomed. We also have to see that the young generation is given opportunity and if the captain is also young that's good," he said.

The seven-match One-day International series against Australia will be played from Sep 29 to Oct 17.

The Pakistani team will visit India for five ODIs and three Test matches to be played between Nov 6 and Dec 12.

The captain for the Test series will be named later, said Vengsarkar.

On the recall of left-arm pacer Pathan and off-spinner Harbhajan, both of whom are playing Twenty20 World Championship, he said they have done well to merit a recall.

On Virender Sehwag, who is also playing in South Africa but was again ignored for the ODIs, Vengsarkar said that since the team was only for three matches, "he will get his opportunity" later in the series.

Team: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain/wicket keeper), Yuvraj Singh (vice captain), Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Dinesh Karthik, Robin Uthappa, Irfan Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Sreesanth, Piyush Chawla, Ramesh Powar, Zaheer Khan and Rudra Pratap Singh.

Australia in India
Date	Match	Venue
Tue, Sep 25	Australia team arrival
Sat, Sep 29	First ODI	Bangalore
Tue, Oct 2	Second ODI	Kochi
Fri, Oct 5	Third ODI	Hyderabad
Mon, Oct 8	Fourth ODI	Guwahati
Thu, Oct 11	Fifth ODI	Baroda
Sun, Oct 14	Sixth ODI	Nagpur
Wed, Oct 17	Seventh ODI	Mumbai

Pakistan in India
Date	Match	Venue
Fri, Nov 2	Pakistan team arrival
Tue, Nov 6	First ODI	Faridabad
Fri, Nov 9	Second ODI	Mohali
Mon, Nov 12	Third ODI	Kanpur
Thu, Nov 15	Fourth ODI	Gwalior
Sun, Nov 18	Fifth ODI	Jaipur
Thu, Nov 22 - Mon, Nov 26	First Test	Delhi
Fri, Nov 30 to Tue, Dec 4	Second Test	Kolkata
Sat, Dec 8 - Wed, Dec 12	Third Test	Bangalore

Gaddar exposes himself before Vijayashanti

Revolutionary singer Gaddar, who has a lot of reputation as the champion of the downtrodden, has exposed his intentions to come into politics by joining hands with a political turncoat like A Narendra and a fraud like Vijayashanti.

Gaddar bared his chest and danced along with Vijayashanti on the dais at Osmania University and promised to be a part of the Telangana United Front and lead the Telangana movement. According to sources, the entire show at Osmania University was sponsored by the Congress leaders themselves with behind the screen support from Chief Minister's advisor K V P Ramachandra Rao. And it is an open secret that Narendra, Vijayashanti and Jayaprakash Reddy have the blessings of Y S Rajasekhar Reddy.

So, one wonders what credibility Narendra and Vijayashanti has in the Telangana front. Narendra is able to avoid inquiry by the CBI into the fake passport scandal only because of the support of Pranab Mukherjee through YSR. And Vijayashanti only makes guest appearances once in a while, on the occasions like Bonalu festival and Telangana liberation day. What would Gaddar get by joining hands with them is anybody's guess. Only thing is that Gaddar himself will lose his credibility.

Of KCR and his communal politics

Many people in Telangana believe that Telangana Rashtra Samithi president K Chandrasekhar Rao has an unflinching commitment for Telangana State formation. But many others do not know that gaining immediate political gains is more important to him than achieving separate Statehood for Telangana.

If one were to read between the lines his unusual silent on Telangana Liberation Day on September 17, one can realize that his prime objective was not to recall the glory of erstwhile independent Hyderabad State, but to gain immediate benefit for the TRS in the forthcoming Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation Elections. Hyderabadi Muslims still feel that the end of Nizam rule would mean loss of independence for Muslims and therefore, they do not appreciate the political parties celebrating this Hyderabad liberation day.

And KCR, who is eyeing on GHMC hot seat, does not want to antagonize the Muslims. Therefore, by staying away from Hyderabad Liberation Day celebrations, he wants to woo the Muslim community. He argues that what matters now is not celebrating the past incident, but re-liberating the Telangana from the clutches of Andhra rulers. And he wants the Muslims to take part in regaining their past glory by liberating Telangana. That's KCR and his communal politics!

Idol Manufacturers and Haleem Makers Are Weeping

The Ganesh Chaturdhi has left a lull this time at the idol vendors. Vendors are saying that the sale of idols is very less this ear when compared to previous years.

"Every year we notice 20 percent of growth rate in the sales of Ganesh idols. But this time the sale is tremendously less. We have thousands of idols at us those weren't sold out. The main reason for all this is the recent bomb blast incident in Hyderabad. People haven't shown much interest in many years to celebrate the festival in bigger way. Majority people also took away only smaller size idols this time. Police is also keen in giving permissions for public mandapams and that is another reason for the fewer sales of idols", said an idol maker with dull voice.

Same is being told by a Haleem maker near Charminar. "We are not seeing crowds in big way as we saw in previous years. People are afraid of bomb blasts. We used to enjoy a great customer count with the interest shown by our Hindu brothers towards Haleem. But this time, even Muslims are found in less number when compared to previous years. The macca masjid blasts and lumbini blasts are still frightening many", he said.

Tania Sachdev won the Asian Women's Chess Championship

Tania Sachdev won the Asian Women's Chess Championship on Tuesday i.e. on 11/9/07, at Tehran by beating Chinese Ju Wenjun. She is also a Grandmaster-norm holder. She joined Women Grandmaster (WGM) Club in 2005.

Isn't she cute?

Spotlight: IITs Started New Political Party

This is the revolution that started from IIT students. They have started a new political party from UP. See what they say:

"Bharat Punarnirman Dal is a political party, founded by a group of IITians and other such individuals and professionals, with the objective of making "Bharathvarsha a prosperous and powerful nation and re-establish it as the world-leader, a position, which the nation rightfully deserves".

The formation of this political organization is the culmination of the efforts taken by a group of individuals from different parts of the country and from different walks of life towards realizing a long nurtured vision of making Bharat a prosperous and powerful Nation.

After years of study and hands-on experience at the grassroots level it became clear to the group that without reforming the political system any attempt to reform the society or the governance will be futile. Soon it became clear that the problem is not the lack of resources but it is inefficient management of the resources. In other words in order to get a lasting and widespread solution instead of trying to solve the problems and issues themselves it is better to improve the problem solving mechanism. This problem solving mechanism or the System that governs the country is already there and has sufficient reach and resources but because of inefficiencies at every level of this system it has become ineffective.

Bharat Punarnirman Dal was founded with a belief that qualitative improvement at the topmost level will be reflected throughout the structure that lies beneath them. Thus this political organization is an attempt to fundamentally reform the political system, which produces the top level managers – the politicians, by introducing quality and dynamism at the political level so as the country is run by politicians by choice not by chance or by birth".

Buzz: No more vigilance commissioners?

A major fallout of the sensational Samal report is that there will be more delay in the appointment of his successor. The powers that be have realised post the Samal revelations that the occupant of the position has the potential to embarrass any official or minister anytime. The grapevine has it that the chief minister has directed that the process of appointing the next vigilance commissioner be put on hold. As per rules, the post cannot be given as additional charge to anyone and that it will remain vacant until a full time incumbent is appointed by the governor. How long that wait could be is anybody’s guess.

Behind The Scene: Naidu instigated Samal?

Former Chief Minister and Telugu Desam president N Chandrababu Naidu could be the brain behind former Vigilance Commissioner R C Samal's sensational allegations against the corrupt bureaucrats, police officials and politicians.

This was the suspicion expressed by none other than Chief Minister Dr Y S Rajasekhar Reddy. After remaining tightlipped over Samal's allegations for more than two days, YSR appeared before the media and refuted the allegations. He suspected that Naidu must have instigated Samal to make such wild allegations against the Chief Minister's Office and certain ministers only to defame the government. "Earlier, Naidu provoked Christian Evangelist K A Paul to make all sorts of baseless against me and my government. Now, he must have used Samal to fire at us again," he expressed doubt.

There is every truth in YSR's observations, since Naidu is capable of doing such gimmicks. That Samal tried to defame the YSR government by saying that it had withdrawn all the cases against several IAS officers, who were found guilty by the previous TD regime, itself shows that Samal had an understanding with Naidu. Samal needs an explanation for this.

Fact Sheet: Naidu's double talk on corruption

Telugu Desam president N Chandrababu Naidu, who is crying from roof tops about the high-level corruption in Y S Rajasekhar Reddy government, did not take any action against the corrupt officials pointed out by the Vigilance Commission and ACB during his nine-year Telugu Desam regime.

The Chief Minister pointed out that the previous Telugu Desam government had taken action against only four All India Service Officers in nine years, while the Congress government took action against 13 officers in three years including three officers who have been compulsorily retired. "No raids were conducted against them during TD rule where as we have raided homes and offices of 5 AIS offices including Vizag rural SP and IPS official Murali for the first time," he said.

He alleged that the Chief Minister's Office during the Telugu Desam regime had suppressed ACB reports. The Naidu government had blackmailed officers and extracted work from them. On the other hand, the present Congress government is taking action against 128 officers, including IAS, IPS and IFS officers, out of 800-900 All India Service Officers, against whom the Vigilance Commission had recommended action.

Vinyaka chaturdi Wishes……..!!!

Fact Sheet: Babu spreading panic among people!

Former chief minister and Telugu Desam president N Chandrababu Naidu used to repeat quite often, when he was in power, that tourism is the best "ism" and there's no "ism" but tourism in this modern day world. Now that he is in the Opposition, Chandrababu Naidu is spreading panic among people that Hyderabad has become unsafe for tourists. He went on record saying that the governments of the USA and Australia had issued travel advisories warning their citizens to be cautious during their visit to Andhra Pradesh in view of bomb blasts. The TD supremo also said that since people from other States too had died in the blast and the collapse of the flyover bridge at Panjagutta, State governments in India will also issue similar travel advisories.

Chandrababu Naidu is attempting to derive political mileage saying that the law and order situation is very bad in the Congress ruled State. He claimed that he had brought international repute to Hyderabad and Andhra Pradesh through developments.

What Chandrababu Naidu has forgotten is that his statements are bringing a bad name to Hyderabad and Andhra Pradesh. In case the Telugu Desam returns to power in the State, Chandrababu Naidu then will have a Herculean task before him to convince people that everything is ok with Hyderabad. Then people will not believe him. For the sake of petty politics and political ego, Chandrababu Naidu wants to depict Hyderabad as a bad city.

Bill Clinton, Tony Blair and Chandrababu Naidu

Former chief minister and Telugu Desam president N Chandrababu Naidu is adept at carving out an image for himself. In his recent interaction with mediapersons at NTR Bhavan, Chandrababu Naidu claimed that then US president Bill Clinton chose to visit Hyderabad after reading about the "vision" of Chandrababu Naidu and the "progress" of the State during the TD rule. He said Clinton read about Hyderabad, Telugu Desam and Andhra Pradesh in Wall Street Journal and Time and hence decided to see the "development" himself.

Chandrababu Naidu did not stop at this. He went on to say that then British prime minister Tony Blair during his visit to Hyderabad told him that he had heard about Hyderabad through Bill Clinton.

If one were to believe what Babu says, Bill Clinton and Tony Blair had nothing else to do except discussing about Hyderabad. For these two big and powerful imperialist nations, a big country like India has no place in their agenda. When India does not matter to them, does Hyderabad matter?

But Chandrababu Naidu wants us all to believe.

Tsunami alert in AP after quake hits Indonesia

The State government has sounded a high alert of a possible Tsunami in the coastal belt after a severe earthquake hit Indonesia.

Severe earthquake hit Indonesia and there are reports that Tsunami also may ensure. There are also reports that Tsunami may hit Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The Chief Minister Dr Y S Rajasekhara Reddy who has just returned from a tour of Khammam, immediately spoke to the Chief Secretary and Commissioner, Disaster Management.

Since Coastal areas of Andhra Pradesh were also put on high alert on the threat of Tsunami, he asked them to take necessary advance measures. Following this the District Collectors of the Coastal district have been alerted on the Tsunami and asked them to instruct the fishermen not to venture into the sea.

The Collectors were told to ask the fishermen who have ventured into the sea to return immediately. The Collectors have been put on high alert to be ready to evacuate people from the low lying areas. The Chief Minister asked the Chief Secretary, Commissioner, Disaster Management, Collectors and other officials to constantly monitor the situation and be ready for relief measures as and when necessary.

City Talk: 755 Sq.Yard plot for Rs 6 Cr in Nandagiri

HYDERABAD: The coveted 755.87 square yard plot atop Nandagiri Hills in Jubilee Hills went under the hammer for Rs 6.04 crore at an auction held by Hyderabad Urban Development Authority (Huda) here on Wednesday. Just three bidders participated in the open auction to own the prized plot from where one can get a panoramic view of the city. Though Huda fixed Rs 45,000 per square yard as the upset price, the land went for nearly Rs 80,000 per sq yard, raking in Rs 6.04 crore to the urban authority.

The bidding process started with Rs 66,000 and concluded at Rs 80,000 per sq. yard. There was fierce competition among the three bidders to own the north-facing plot, but Suchirindia Developers chief executive officer Y Kiron Kumar finally quoted the winning bid with Rs 80,000 per sq yard. "It was my dream to construct a good house on the hilltop. I wanted to own this plot irrespective of the price. My dream has come true,'' Y Kiron Kumar told media. At the auction, Jubilee Hills Cooperative House Building Society secretary T Devender Reddy bought a 920.92 sq yard plot at Huda Techno Enclave, Madhapur. He plans to exploit it for commercial purpose. Two bidders participated in the open auction. Huda fixed Rs 1 crore as EMD and Rs 45,000 per sq yard as upset price. Devender Reddy quoted Rs 73,000 per square yard and won the bid.

M/s Aditya Housing Infrastructure Limited, Hyderabad, bought plots under 'Individual', 'Group Housing' and 'Commercial' categories. Under 'Individual' categories, they bought plot nos 133 to 139 and in group housing from I to VII and one plot (C1) under commercial group at Tellapur. On the first day of the auction, Huda auctioned plots at Nandagiri Hills, Huda Heights Phase-II, Huda Techno Enclave, Asif Nagar (New), Ramachandrapuram Ringtown and Tellapur. Thirty-nine plots were bought by bidders and as a result Huda to earn Rs 100.54 crore. The auction would continue till September 17 at Huda's head office Paigah Palace.

Prashant murder case gets a new twist

The episode of realtor Prashant Reddy's death at the residence of K Venkateshwara Rao alias Venkat, son of PCC president K Kesava Rao, who has since resigned from his post, is turning curious and curiouser, with Venkat telling the police that family problems had compelled Prashant Reddy to commit suicide by shooting himself.

According to Venkat, Prashant Reddy has two wives -- one legal (Vilasini) and other illegal (Preethi), who used to quarrel among themselves frequently. This created a lot of mental tension for Prashant Reddy and this eventually led to his suicide. As if to buttress his argument, Prashant Reddy's second wife Preethi came into the scene from nowhere, exactly two days after the murder took place.

She is believed to have suffered a "chest pain" on listening to Prashant Reddy's death and she was admitted to a private hospital. Nobody is being allowed to meet her, as she is in an unconscious state.

But why this chest pain comes to these people only when some serious incident involving them, remains a mystery. Inquiries revealed that the powers-that-be are trying to hush up the case and mislead the investigation by bringing in Preethi,who must have had an affair with Prashant. Some high profile leaders had hectic deliberations with Preethi and use her as an important instrument in watering down the case. Efforts are also on to enter into an agreement with Vilasini to hush up the case, as had happened in the case of murder attempt on Bellamkonda Suresh by film hero Balakrishna. Ultimately, when there is no evidence, there would be no case. Anything is possible in politics!!

Behind The Scene: KK pays for his loose tongue

Finally, Pradesh Congress Committee president K Keshava Rao had to pay a heavy price for his loose tongue. In a bid to defend his rowdy son Venkat, who allegedly shot dead his friend Prashant Reddy, Kesava Rao tried to influence the investigation by saying it appeared to be a suicide, rather than a murder.

According to Gandhi Bhavan sources, Keshava Rao got a clear message from the Congress high command in Delhi to step down from the PCC presidentship. Within a couple of hours of he visiting Apollo Hospitals to call on his son and giving him a clean chit in the firing incident, Kesava Rao reportedly received a telephone call from K V P Ramachandra Rao, advisor to Chief Minister Dr Y S Rajasekhar Rao, asking him to put in his papers.

Party sources say that the Congress high command took a serious view of the incident on Sunday itself when the news of the shooting incident at Keshava Rao's son's residence in Jubilee Hills was on TV news channels. The Chief Minister and KVP virtually closed all options for Keshava Rao to find an escape route. When a couple of ministers and a few MLAs and MLCs called on him to discuss the issue, Keshava Rao initially put up a bold face, saying that his 'friends and well-wishers' in Hyderabad and Delhi had all told him that there was no need for him to resign. But with the party high command cracking the whip, he had no choice but to announce his resignation before rushing to Delhi.

Analysis: Who is the Next PCC President?

Now that PCC president K Kesava Rao quit his post with his image crest fallen, all speculations are on who would be his sucessor.

Television channels, as usual, have started churning out as many names as possible to score over their rivals -- from Nandi Yellaiah to Mallu Ravi to V Hanumantha Rao and so on. In fact, even before Kesava Rao submitted his resignation to Madam Sonia Gandhi, AICC incharge of AP Affairs Digvijay Singh has started bargaining with the probable candidates like Nandi Yellaiah, giving them all sorts of assurances.

But the key is in the hands of Chief Minister Dr Y S Rajasekhar Reddy, since he wants a non-controverial person and his loyalist to be in the PCC throne, as he doesn't want any confrontation with anyone during the election year.

The curious question that is doing rounds is whether the incumbent would be from Telangana or not. There has been a grumbling among the Congress leaders from coastal Andhra, as most of the PCC presidents in the recent past were from Telangana -- whether it was D Srinivas, M Satyanarayana Rao or Kesava Rao. They are demanding that this time, the chance should go to the Congress leader from coastal Andhra or Rayalaseema. But as things stand now, there are no serious and worthy candidates from these two regions, who can take all the Congress leaders along with him. But whether the Congress high command will listen to them in the wake of a serious demand for Telangana State formation remains to be seen.

Andhra Talk: Is This A Real Bad Time For Congress?

Is 'bad' getting big and shadowing 'good' if any, done by government? Has Satan entered the Congress party? Is the government getting negative feedback from majority sections of people followed by a few grave incidents? What the political analysts say about the present trend of politics? Is the situation at present going to be venom for Congress to lose its power in coming elections?

When asked a few people at random here are the impressions collected a few hours after the incident of flyover collapse in Punjagutta.

"If you ask now, the people would be anti-government. The flyover collapse is on the top news today. Adding to that the case of KK's son in the alleged murder of Realtor Prashant Reddy is also on the banner. Anti-Government feelings are all pervasive now. But just wait and ask people after a few months when there is silence everywhere. The feelings will be different. So, what I want to say is the feelings that people carry 4 months before elections will matter for the change of government. It is too early to decide now", said Ajay Sharma, a political analyst.

"It's the worst rule of government. The lava of corruption is erupting every where. The thirst for money of politicians is killing hundreds of people", said Jaya Prakash Narayan of Lok Satta.

Taking a different analysis, Radha Krishna, a political science professor says, "Everything was silent before 2004 elections. Chandrababu met with Alipiri incident and the so called sympathy wave would have been on maximum point if statistics were true. But statistics always say lies as per the adage, 'Lies-Damn Lies Statistics'. We have seen the result. Congress swept everything. So, we cannot analyze anything with this corruption, murders, terrorism etc. Everything is serendipity as per my observation".

That sounds a bit philosophical but some students in a college say, "It's a bad mark on government. People are afraid to come out for various reasons-be it terrorism or with the incidents like Punjagutta flyover. When people lose security feeling, then nothing stops government from losing the power. But the vote bank lies with government officials, employees and poor people. If they are satisfied by any means before elections, again the winning may be assured. Any way, it is too early to discuss all this".

Mixed and indecisive feelings are making rounds everywhere today in Hyderabad . Let us see how government reacts to all this and how it counters the questions posed by opposition parties.

Realtor shot dead by KK’s son Venkat?

Prashant Reddy a realtor was shot dead in an incident this evening at Jubilee hills in Hyderabd. PCC Chief K Keshava Rao’s son is said to have shot Prashant Reddy. The bullet pierced through Prashant’s brain. Venkat also got himself admitted in Apollo hospital. He is said to be in an unconscious stage. Police are not saying anything about the incident. The revolver however belongs to Venkat.

Initial repots said that Prashant’s wife had named Venkat as responsible for killing her husband. But she changed her statement a short while later and now says that Prashant might have committed suicide. Land disputes are said to be the reason behind the shootout. Prashant and Venkat are partners but they are reported to have entered into a scuffle after a party this afternoon. Meanwhile K Keshava Rao rushed to Apollo hospital a short while ago.

India drops to 6th, Sachin leaps to 12th in ODI chart

India drops to 6th, Tendulkar leaps to 12th in ICC ODI chart

DUBAI: In the wake of the series defeat in England, Team India dropped behind Pakistan to the sixth slot in the LG ICC ODI Championship table with the mild consolation being Sachin Tendulkar's rise to the 12th spot in the batting chart.

The 3-4 defeat in England cost Rahul Dravid's side two rating points in the LG ICC ODI Championship table and though both India and Pakistan sides have 108 points, the latter takes the fifth spot when the ratings are recalculated to three decimal places.

Personally, Tendulkar, however, has a lot to cheer about as he leapfrogs nine rungs to join South African Jacques Kallis in the 12th spot.

The Mumbaikar was India's top run-scorer in the seven-match encounter with 374 runs -- only the Man of the Series Ian Bell, with 422 runs, scored more -- including four half-centuries.

This is Tendulkar's highest position in the rankings since March 2006, when he briefly touched 11th position, and suggests there is plenty left in his batting locker despite media suggestions of impending retirement from one form of the game.

Apart from Tendulkar, India has three other batsmen in the top 20 - Dravid, who has dropped two places during the England series to 15th position, Yuvraj Singh, a non-mover at 18th and the 19th-placed Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Meanwhile, the series win -- England's first victory in a home ODI series since 2003 -- helped Paul Collingwood's side gain three rating points and overtake the West Indies to move to the seventh place. Table topper Australia is five points clear of second-placed South Africa, 21 ahead of India and 24 in front of England.

Among the English batsmen, Bell moved into the top 20 and is just one point short of his best rating, achieved earlier in the ODI series. He is one of two England players in the top 20, along with second-placed Kevin Pietersen, holding steady just behind leader Ricky Ponting of Australia.

In the LG ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers, all-rounder Andrew Flintoff remains Englands highest-ranked player and has climbed five places to 10th position after taking 10 wickets in the four matches he played.

Only one player took more wickets in the series than Flintoff and that was his team-mate James Anderson, and his great form has seen him climb 19 places to break into the top 20 at 14th.

In contrast, Indian pacer Ajit Agarkar, who started the series in 13th position, dropped 12 places, which means India is now without a bowler in the top 20.

Flintoff's excellence with the ball has also seen him rise to the second spot in the LG ICC Player Rankings for ODI all-rounders, overtaking Chris Gayle of the West Indies, Sanath Jayasuriya of Sri Lanka and Kallis in the process.

Flintoff, however, is still some distance behind the leader of that list, South African Shaun Pollock.

Pollock also tops the LG ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers, ahead of Australia's Nathan Bracken and Shane Bond of New Zealand. Below Ponting and Pietersen in the batting table comes the Australia duo of Michael Hussey and Matthew Hayden, together with South Africa captain Graeme Smith.