Sport

Indian batsmen take top three spots

Melbourne: Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni rule the roost in the batting charts of the CB cricket tri-series, which India won by taming world champion Australia in its own den.

The presence of the Indian batsmen in the top three slots of the batting charts explains their dominance in the series, a major reason why the Twenty20 champions also proved their hold over the 50-over game.

Gambhir, the lone Indian to have struck two centuries in the series, is perched atop the list with 440 runs in 10 innings at an enviable average of 55.

Master batsman Sachin Tendulkar, who shrugged off a barrage of criticism about his form and struck a century and a 91 in the two finals to guide India through, is at the second spot with 399 runs at 44.33.

Dhoni, who played some gritty knocks to pull off crucial wins for the team, is at third place with 347 runs. But the surprise element about the wicketkeeper-batsman, who could not make an impact with his batting in the preceding Test series, was his awesome average of 69.40 which is the best in the whole series. Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara (326 runs at 46.57) occupies the fourth place.

The Aussie entry in the list starts from the fifth spot with Adam Gilchrist leading the charge for his team (322 runs at 32.20), followed by Michael Clarke (314 runs at 39.25), Matthew Hayden (298 runs at 37.25) and Mike Hussey (278 runs at 46.33).

Young Mumbai batsman Rohit Sharma, who played a key role in the first final in Sydney, is at the ninth slot with 235 runs at 33.57.

With his consistent performance, man-of-the-series Nathan Bracken of Australia leads the bowlers’ charts with 21 wickets at an amazing average of 16.52, followed by his charismatic pace partner Brett Lee (16 wickets at 22.25).

India’s find of the tour, Ishant Sharma, takes the third spot with 14 scalps at 20.35.

Indian pace battery of Irfan Pathan (11 at 34.27), man of the second final Praveen Kumar (11 at 17.5) and S. Sreesanth (9 at 25.77) are placed at sixth, seventh and eighth places respectively. — PTI

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